1

December 2009 | DAANA | oldrajans-na.blogspot.com

DAANA Digital Pencil

Annual Magazine

Editorial Note It has been a great first year for DAANA. Looking back, we have achieved a lot for an infant organization. When the current Board of Directors came to of-fice, each of us had many plans of our own for DAANA. We may not have kept strictly to those scripts as improvisation was inevitable. We all have been learn-ing during the past year about how to build an organization like DAANA from grassroots. I vividly remember in one wintry afternoon getting the first email from Sarith requesting to sign up for the effort. The rest is, as they say, history.

This magazine “Digital Pencil”, symbolizes the culmination of the current boards’ activities. When Sanka Tennakoon, one of the board of directors, first suggested that we should put together a magazine at the end of the year, many of us did not think we could find time from our hectic schedules. But due to the enthusiasm and hardwork of the article contributors we truly had a great time compiling this. We are truly honored to receive messages from the likes of Mr A.P. Gunaratne, who as principal ushered Dharmaraja to national promi-nence, Ambassador Mr Tissa Wijeratne, the current deputy chief of mission of Sri Lanka in Washington DC who once taught at Dharmaraja, and Mr S.M. Keerthi-ratne, the current principal of Dharmaraja. Digital Pencil also features two wonderful interviews, one with Professor Ananda Guruge, a prominent scholar of Sanskrit and Buddhism, and another with S.U. Mendis, a great Rajan sportsman, a professional, and a great role model.

DAANA thanks the invited and member contributors whose articles really made this issue such a treat to read, especially Gamini Gunawardane who not only contributed two articles but convinced others to contribute. We are also thank-ful to our sponsors for their support in many DAANA activities throughout the past year.

Articles compiled here are of wide variety. Many of them cover different eras of Dharmaraja and it was attempted to arrange them in a loose chronological order. We hope you will have a great time reading them while taking a journey down the memory lane.

Ashoka Polpitiya

Contents Editorial Note 1

Message from the Principal 2

Message from Mr AP Gunaratne 3 Message from Mr Tissa Wijeratne 4

Board of Directors Message 5

Story of DAANA 7

Dharmaraja History and the Role of Old Rajans

9

Interview with Prof Ananda Guruge 12

A Task for the Buddhists in The New Century

14

Interview with SU Mendis 17

DH Lawrence on Dharmaraja Hill 21

Reminiscences of Dharmaraja 24 The Golden Era of DRCK 25

Dharmaraja's First Girl Student 27

To Make a Difference 27

Learning English at Dharmaraja in the 50s (A half truth)

29

Shala balang! 30

Memories of the Hostel 31 Growing up in the Hostel 33

A Rajan Food Saga 33

The Heart of Hearts 35

Never be Unprepared 37 Memories of Big Matches 39

Look to the Past March Forward 41

Networking for Life 43

Aspects of Life Far Away from Mother-land

45

Obesity and Diabetes 46

Eyes on Earth 47 Wallpaper Articles 49

DAANA Chapter News 55

DAANA Members 56

DAANA Member Contributors 57 DAANA Scholarship Recipients 58

DAANA Financial Statement 59

DAANA Sponsors 61

Dharmaraja Alumni Association of North America

2

Mr S.M. Keerthiratne is the Principal of Dharmaraja College, Kandy since 2001.

It is with great pleasure that I write this message to the 1st anniversary commemoration volume of the Dhar-maraja Alumni Association of North America (DAANA). I am also thankful to the Editorial committee for the invitation to write this message. I resumed duties as the principal of this great educa-tional institution in year 2000. I had the privilege of working closely with past students, unions of the school, for example, the OBA Colombo, the UK branch, and the Australia branch etc. I am truly amazed by the enthusiasm and the dedication of the past students to serve their alma mater to make it the

best school in the island. For those who have not visited the school for a while, I am glad to tell you that we have finished renovating the cricket ground which is suitable to host interna-tional matches, new swimming pool is also completed and HE the president has been invited to declare open the swimming pool. We also have a state of the art auditorium, arguably the best in Kandy, at Lake View. Thanks to the generous support from the 79/80 Group, the DRCK Museum - Sir DB Jayatillake Achieves - is also open.

On behalf of the teachers, and students, I want to thank DAANA for their generous support to school activities during the past year. This is just the 1st anni-versary of DAANA, and within the period of 1-year, DAANA showed its willingness to involve in education-al activities at the school. DAANA launched an on-line wallpaper on the association website, inviting students to write articles on it. I understand DAANA is making plans to expand the scholarship program, which at present support a single needy and bright student. DAANA also sponsored a student who participated in the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astro Physics Competition held in Iran in October 2009. The students brought honors to Dharmaraja and Sri Lanka by winning the prestigious “Most Creative Solution in Theory” prize. In the past year, few past students who live in the United States visited the school. It is heartening to see those who left the portals of this great institution are doing well in their careers around the world. I believe the students will find your visits inspirational. There is no other way to simply show the students that sky is the limit. We can tell them to look at these past students, and that they started school at Dharmaraja just like them. On behalf of the students, may I use this oppor-tunity to invite you all to visit the school in your next trip to Sri Lanka. Please come prepared to give a short seminar to the students (particularly to A/L students) on whatever your career, work, research experiences may be. Congratulations on the 1st anniversary and best wishes to your future endeavors!

Message from the Principal Mr SM Keerthiratne

It is heartening to see those who left the portals of this

great institution are doing well in their careers around the

world. I believe the students will find your visits inspirational. There is no other way to simply

show the students that sky is the limit.

From Orange, New Jersey to Kandy… Dharmaraja owes its existence to Colonel Henry Steele Olcott, an American Theosophist, Author, Attorney, Philosopher, and co-founder of the Theosophical Society. He was born on August 2, 1832 in Orange, New Jersey, US. He is the only foreigner to be declared as a Na-tional Hero in Sri Lanka. “as the awakener of a nation out of a long slumber, as the crusader who campaigned to regain its due place for Buddhism, as the agitator who caused the colonial government of the day to declare the Vesak Full Moon Poya Day a statutory holiday in Sri Lanka (1885), as the designer of the now internationally famous Buddhist Flag (1885) and as the founder of national and educational institutions, Colonel lives forever in our memories.” (In a message by former President JR Jayawardene, March 26, 1980)

3

The vision of our Buddhist leaders with their dedication and devo-tion, the courage and determina-tion of the College Principals and Teachers, and the sheer strength of the Rajans made Dharmaraja College make vast strides in the

educational world in Sri Lanka during her 123 years history. Today, we Rajans proudly tell the world that our alma-mater is one of the premier educational insti-tutions of the nation which has greatly contributed for the national renaissance. We Rajans and the nation are grateful to Colonel Henry Steele Olcott, the great American theosophist, who visited Sri Lanka (Ceylon) during the late 19th century and laid the foundation for Dharmaraja College (Kandy Buddhist High School)

and other leading Buddhist schools, and initiated the revival of education in our nation under the Buddhist school system which led the nation towards indepen-dence and freedom. The College educational standards are very high with exceptionally good results at national examinations, and Dharmaraja is in the top-most national school list in admissions to universities and other educational institutions. Our alma-mater is right on top amongst the schools in Sri Lanka in sports and in other co/extra-curricular ac-tivities winning championships and awards at national and international levels. Dharmaraja in a 58 acre campus (then 37) has all the necessary facilities for a top- level modern national school which only a few schools in Sri Lanka can

equal. The College auditorium at the foothills of Lake View is a popular, much in demand centre for educa-tional and cultural activities. The new Swimming Pool in- between the auditorium and the primary section will be a blessing for the College as swimming would be included as a primary school curricular activity, and it would be the most sought - after for most swimming meets in Kandy. The College Cricket grounds is modernized and is of a test - match - play-ing standard, with 06 turf - strips and a 400 Metre track for athletics. The Pavilion and the Spectator Galleries (infrastructure development) will have to come - up. Plans are already drawn - up for the next big project - the College Rugger, Soccer grounds in the valley, (hostel to Gopal house - below cricket grounds), and the OBU and the College management hope to launch the project once the ceremonial opening of the Cricket grounds and the Swimming pool by the President (already the invitation accepted - most probably in January 2010) is over. The North-East War is over. The College management and the OBU are negotiating with the State authorities to get back the army buildings in our College premises with the idea of shifting the hostel there. Dharmaraja's glorious contribution to the world is in scouting. The Rajans Scout Centenary will be cele-brated in 2013 on a real international level out beating all scouts events of the nation from 1912, and the Old Rajans Scout Association with the College manage-ment and the National Scout Association is planning the Dharmaraja Scout Centenary with the theme 'Forward with Strength'. Lord Baden Powell, the founder of the Scout Move-ment had visited the College in 1921 and the Rajan Scouts have felicitated him on three occasions at Dharmaraja. The first great achievement of the Rajan Scouts in the local and the international scout arena was the winning of the KINGS FLAG for three consecu-tive years in 1917, 1918, 1919, and from that time Rajan Scouts have proved to the scout world as the largest and the leading International Scout Group. From 1993 to 2006 Dharmaraja Scouts have won the Island Merit Flag for being the Best Scout Group in Sri Lanka. Other than the achievements and the participation at world Scouts' events the rajan Scouts have organized Six International Scouts Events at Lake View Park Inter-national Centre (named in 1984) - Centenery Jim (1984), Desai Jamborette (1994), Rajans Venture (1997), Rajans Millenium Jamboree (2000), Rajans Jim (2003), RANSAI - Rajans Ninety-fifth Scout Anniversary International (2008). L. D. Devendra, a well respected, popular teacher in College in his article 'Then and Now' to the College Centenary Magazine says, 'I have never taught in a

To me Dharmaraja College was a paradise on earth - its

breath taking scenic beauty; the commanding dignity of its aloofness from all distraction; the honor it conferred on the

students and the security it granted the staff, made

Dharmaraja College veritably a haven of peace, a symbol

of Rabindranath Tagore's ‘Shanthi Niketan’

Message from Mr AP Gunaratne

4

Mr A.P. Gunaratne was the principal of Dharmaraja College from 1973 to 1987. In 1987 he became the principal of Anan-da College, Colombo until his retirement in 1995. Mr Guna-ratne, himself an old Rajan studied Arts and graduated from the University of Peradeniya in 1960. He is married to Sunethra who herself taught English at Dharmaraja and both are proud parents of their son Daham. Mr and Mrs Gunaratne live in a suburb of Colombo.

Mr Tissa Wijeratne is the deputy chief of mission for Sri Lanka in Washington DC. Once he was a teacher at Dharmaraja and taught many DAANA members too. He is an honorary member of Dharmaraja Alumni Association of North Ameri-ca.

school with such deep commitment to the younger generation; a school wherever the inanimate buildings and the noble surroundings spoke of sacredness and quiet dignity saturated multitudinous' Sathpurusha Sacrifices......'. To me Dharmaraja College was a pa-radise on earth - its breath taking scenic beauty; the commanding dignity of its aloofness from all distrac-tion; the honor it conferred on the students and the security it granted the staff made Dharmaraja College veritably a haven of peace, a symbol of Rabindranath Tagore's ‘Shanthi Niketan’.

We Rajans are proud of our alma-mater, Dharmaraja College. Blessings to Dharmaraja Alumni Association of North America to go FORWARD WITH STRENGTH.

It is with great pleasure and pride that I send this message to the first anniversary publication of DAANA. My association with DRCK started long time ago, even

before I joined Sri Lanka Foreign Service. I was fortu-nate to get an appointment at DRCK as a teacher during the Gunaratne period, one of the golden eras of its glorious history. There was a time that I was in charge of the hostel. During that period of four years, not only I had an inti-mate exposure to the great traditions and values of DRCK, I was also instrumental in that very process of grooming young Rajans, inculcating those values and spirit of ‘Rajanness’. It is with sheer happiness that I see its some of my own students who have turned out to be the pioneers of DAANA. In fact, Dr Sarith Mahana-ma, one of the founders of DAANA was one of my students and his late father served with me in the tu-torial staff.

As a senior diplomat attached to the Sri Lanka Mission in Washington it is my duty to closely associate with Sri Lankan expatriates, promote networking among them and finally mobilize that strength to help our mother-land. DAANA has been established with those same fundamental concepts. I am extremely impressed with the way this organization has blossomed out in a short period of time and all the dedication and efforts of old Rajans in North America to reach out and help their alma mater.

Message from Ambassador Tissa Wijeratne

Humble beginnings…. Mr Andiris De Silva was the first principal of Dharmaraja (1887-1890). He was also the only teacher at the time with 12 students enrolled. The number of students reached the 50’s and the staff increased to three under Mr. Andiris de Silva, who was an efficient leader and an accomplished teacher. Many of the local nobles supported the school by enrolling their children in, having faith in the staff and headmaster. However, by 1890, the necessity of a more qualified principal emerged and The Colombo Theosophical Society appointed Sir D.B. Jayathilake as principal. The school had around 80 students by then, and Sir Jayathilake’s popularity as a leader and his multi-disciplinary fluency and knowledge boosted enrolments as well as the quality of the school.

5

We came to office on the 5th January and Sarith Ma-hanama merely gave us 60+ email addresses and a draft constitution. The BoD quickly reviewed and adapted the constitution. We identified that, 1) ex-panding the network, 2) registration and related for-malities, and 3) building solidarity and invoking the Rajan spirit among members, as the 3 main tasks to build the association.

Expanding the network was actually taken care of by the members themselves, by taking the message to fellow Rajans. It was ably supported by Ranil Ban-neyake's initiative to run a Facebook group as part of DAANA. By early April, DAANA was incorporated in the state of Maryland as a voluntarily led organization, had obtained an Employment Identification Number (EIN) from Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and opened its own bank account – in other words, a fully func-tional business organization. The ultimate recognition for a charitable organization in the United States is the determination of tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the Inland Revenue Code. We planned on applying for the 501(c)(3) status and prepared the application. Mr. Daya Weerakkody (though not a Ra-jan, a great friend to many of us in Washington DC area) advised us at every step during the registration process and took the pain to review the 501(c)(3) ap-plication package which, at present, is under review at IRS.

DAANA represents members from 3 generations. We have left the school many years ago. Hence, building solidarity among members may take some time. Form-ing chapters is obviously one way to achieve that, since they create opportunities to meet fellow Rajans in the area. The first chapter of DAANA (DC Chapter) was formed at a gathering in Sarith Mahanama’s resi-dence on the 14th of March, 2009 with the participa-tion of 16 Rajans from Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia. The Texas Chapter was formed at Sanka Ten-

nakoon's residence on the 26th of April with participa-tion of 8 Rajans from Houston area. Senaka Jayawick-rama took the initiative to form the 3rd chapter of DAANA in Greater Toronto area on the 4th of July with participation of 9 members. Bandula Ranasinghe, Prasad Samarajiva, and Gamini Attygalle also hosted subsequent get-togethers for their chapter members. Members can also promote other social activities based on whatever their common interests would be, like the DAANA Old Scouts group. In addition to promoting networking and camaraderie of Rajans in North America, DAANA emphasizes on involving in projects in improving educational, social, cultural activities, and infrastructure at DRCK. A book drive was launched in April with the target of adding 1500 new volumes of books to DRCK library, which is still underway. DRCK had one LCD projector, a hand-me-down from an old Rajan, which was becoming unusable with a blurry image. We recently donated a brand new DLP style projector which will also be available for the lec-tures and seminars organized by DAANA Educational and Outreach program at DRCK. Whenever you visit Sri Lanka, please make room in your schedule to give a short seminar to the students on your work or any-thing inspirational. It will be full of fun and a great satis-faction to you to share a moment with these young and bright kids. DAANA has been providing financial assistance to a bright needy student since February, 2009. We have called for applications from the school to increase the number of DAANA scholarships and identified 25 stu-

dents, out of hundreds of applications we received, who are in need of financial assistance. A key objective of DAANA is to establish a strong link with the students at DRCK and assist their activities, for example, activities in their science club, literature so-

Board of Directors Message

In addition to promoting net-working and camaraderie of

Rajans in North America, DAANA emphasizes on involv-

ing in projects in improving educational, social, cultural

activities, and infrastructure at DRCK.

DAANA logo designed based on the student entries.

6

ciety etc. We took few initiatives; 1) a wallpaper was launched in our web site with articles from DRCK stu-dents. The wallpaper offers an opportunity for the stu-dents to express themselves and display their creativi-ty. The wallpaper is not limited to the students of DRCK, the members and especially their children are encouraged to contribute making a bridge between the DRCK students and the members in North Ameri-ca. 2) DAANA has invited DRCK students to partici-pate in a "logo competition" to design the DAANA logo. The aim was to get students to participate in a creative artistic activity. We asked DAANA members to rank the student designs and the logo was created based on the top entries by the BoD member Ashoka Polpitiya. 3) DAANA provided part of the expenses for air travel to the students who attended the 3rd Interna-tional Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics in Teheran. Those students brought honors to the school by win-ning the prestigious "Most Creative Model Solution in Theory" award. DAANA greatly acknowledge the assis-tance provided by 2 dedicated teachers, Mrs. Tamara Marapane and Mr. Upula Rathnakela, without whom none of those activities at school would have been possible.

We greatly appreciate the support and enthusiasm from Mr Gamini Gunawadane in getting many articles for this issue. He himself contributed with two great pieces that we thoroughly enjoyed. Since membership is free, DAANA relies heavily on generous support from sponsors, DAANA $tore and voluntary donations from members. It was their sup-port that made all the DAANA accomplishments poss-ible. DAANA appreciates Sanka Tennakoon for his generous donation of all the merchandises available at DAANA $tore. Finally, we are quite thankful to our sponsors for their support throughout the year. Without their help, an infant organization like DAANA may not be able to see the light of the day. We acknowledge Ranil He-rath, President, DeVry University-Calgary Campus, Lakmal Panduwawala from Ceylon Auto Traders, He-mantha Bandara from Upul’s Travel, Sisira Athauda from Concord Travel LLC, and Constantin Wickrama-singhe for their financial sponsorships.

DAANA inaugural Board of Directors: Thushara Diyabalanage, PhD, attended Dharmaraja from 1978 to 1985. He received a BSc degree in Biolo-gy and MPhil degree in Organic Chemistry from the University of Peradeniya. He also received a PhD de-gree in Organic Chemistry from the University of South Florida, USA, in 2006. Currently he is a National Insti-tute of Health Post-doctoral fellow at the National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Maryland, USA. Kamal Dorabawila, attended Dharmaraja from 1982 to 1994. He received his BSc and MSc degrees in Elec-trical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. He is also a graduate from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Kamal is the Africa Sector Lead in the Global Oil & Gas Division of IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group. Sajith Ellepola attended Dharmaraja College from 1983 to 1997. He is an Associate Member (ACMA) of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) - UK. He is currently employed at Brookfield Prop-erties Ltd as a Senior Property Accountant. Sajith lives in Calgary, Canada. Dimuthu Jayawickrama, PhD, attended Dharmaraja from 1970 to 1982. He received a BSc degree from the University of Peradeniya and a PhD degree in Chemistry from University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, USA. He is currently a senior research investigator in process analytical technology at Bristol Myers Squibb, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA. Sarith Mahanama, PhD, attended Dharmaraja from 1973 to 1985. He received a BSc Engineering degree from the University of Peradeniya and a PhD degree from The University of Hong Kong all in Civil Engineer-ing. Currently he is a Research Scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, USA. Ashoka Polpitiya, DSc, attended Dharmaraja from 1981 to 1988. He received a BSc degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Peradeniya and MS and DSc degrees in Systems Science from Washington University in St. Louis, USA. He currently leads the Bioinformatics group for Center for Proteomics at Translational Genomics Research Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Sanka Tennakoon, attended Dharmaraja from 1984 to 1992. He received a BSc degree in 1999 from the University of Peradeniya and a MS degree in 2007 from University of Houston, USA. Currently he is a Chemist at Shell E&P/ORC in Houston, Texas, USA.

7

This is how it all happened. On September 8, 2008, I was surprised to get an email from a parallel class-mate who happened to move into DC area. He has found my email address through a Google search. We exchanged several emails that day. During that dialo-gue I was joking that if we started a Rajans OBA one of us might have to hold more than one office, as I knew very few Rajans in USA. Yet, this conversation gave me the initial impetus. I set up a simple website using Google blogging tools and launched an email drive on the 21st of October, 2008. Initial invitations were sent to about 4 or 5 Rajans that I knew. They took the message to their friends and so on and the group grew steadily. I had collected about 50 email addresses within a period of 2 months. I thought to myself, people are joining, I need to do something. I thought the best thing is forming a formal OBU. However, we, old Rajans have been living in North America for several decades peacefully and happily without a formal OBU. Hence I thought we should em-phasize that DAANA shall never be a burden to mem-bers. I closely observed East Coast Thomians OBU, DC Trini-tians and Mahamaya OGA from their websites. Then I started drafting a constitution for the association. I proposed to keep things simple and offer free mem-bership, by running the association with a minimal or virtually zero cost. The proposed model is that DAANA will be a virtual group linking all the Rajans in the con-tinent of North America. Since an OBU without social gatherings among members is meaningless, DAANA encourages members to form local chapters, and DAANA remains as the umbrella organization linking everyone. Exactly 2 months after starting the email drive, on the 22nd of December, I emailed the draft constitution to the members and called for nominations to elect a 7-member Board of Directors. Ten candidates were no-minated. The election was scheduled on 3-5 January, 2009. Membership continued to grow and had 62 members on the election day. Geeth Uyanwatte was the election commissioner and took over the job at mid night on the 2nd of January. 44 members casted their votes, an impressive turnout of 72% of the regis-tered members. Nishantha Bandara assisted with counting of votes and verifying results. Thushara Diya-balanage, Kamal Dorabawila, Sajith Ellepola, Dimuthu Jayawickrama, Ashoka Polpitiya, Sarith Mahanama and Sanka Tennakoon were elected to the first BoD. I had already conducted a survey to choose the name and the member’s choice was "Dharmaraja Alumni Association of North America (DAANA)". What I merely gave to the newly elected BoD was 60+ email

addresses and a draft constitution. The BoD quickly reviewed and adapted the constitution. We identified that, 1) expanding the network, 2) registration and related formalities, and 3) building solidarity and invok-ing Rajanness among members, as the 3 main tasks to build the association.

The BoD’s statement provides a narrative of DAANA activities during the past year. I don’t want to repeat DAANA accomplishments in this article. Looking back, we have built the association as strong-ly as we could imagine within a period of one year. We have a network of 128 members and counting, have completed both state and IRS formalities, built 3 thriving chapters, raised Rajan spirit across the conti-nent, established a good working relationship with the school, maintain an effective communication links with all other DRCK OBUs and groups around the world, secured 5 sponsorships, and run an informative website (free blogsite, though). So the infrastructure is ready; processes are in place for the future; and the ship was solidly and steadily built. These achievements are remarkable given the short period. DAANA mem-bers are the strength of the association, many of them are doing well in their careers in many different fields (Medicine, Engineering, Academia, Advanced Tech-nology and Sciences etc.), many have post graduate education; they are essentially a huge resource. We freely admit that our projects and initiatives in the past year brought modest results. DAANA opened the store with the potential to generate more than $3000 to support DAANA projects; we did not get the antic-ipated results. The book drive also could not garner the expected support. Nishantha Bandara repeatedly attempted to build a DAANA chapter in Michigan area and that turned out to be futile. Given that members live in all corners of the continent, email is the only and main broadcasting mode to address the entire membership.

Story of DAANA By Sarith Mahanama

We identified that, expanding the network, registration and related formalities, and build-ing solidarity and invoking Ra-janness among members, as the 3 main tasks to build the

association.

8

Honestly, we are not sure how much we succeeded in communication with members in the past year. It is just the first year, anyways. DAANA desperately needs your feedback for whatever the initiative DAANA may take. Please feel free to send an email to us to express your thoughts on what we are doing. In the past year, we failed to form active/working committees to increase member participation. That is an area that future BoDs can look at. There is the po-tential to create few more chapters across the conti-nent, particularly in California, New York, Michigan and Ohio. DAANA is looking forward to organize semi-nars by visiting members at the school. We are hopeful that we will soon get the IRS determination regarding the tax-exempt status under 501(c)(3). As an IRS regis-tered charity, DAANA will be qualified to apply for

educational grants from major foundations in the US like Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, MacArthur Foundation - I am the first to admit that I don't know what I am talking about, though. That is an area worth looking at, however. DAANA was built on fundamentals of democratic norms. We have even put a clause in the constitution that no one can serve in the BoD for two consecutive years. We have seen organizations run by the same bunch of people for years, as if there is no one else can do better than them. Do people like it? DAANA is the association of the Rajans, by the Rajans, for the Rajans - so it is all OURS!

Sarith Mahanama, PhD, attended DRCK from 1973 to 1985 and graduated from the University of Peradeniya and the University of Hong Kong. He works for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and lives in Ellicott City, MD, USA

9

We read, write, talk, admire and sometime boast about our Alma Mater’s proud history. Young Rajans are inspired by reading our history. It is an undisputa-ble fact that history paves the way to future endea-vors. What allows us to talk about our history is what we often forget or do not care. It is the documented evidence and artifacts that reveal the history. It may be startling news for you that we are losing our history. It is sad to say that the college did not have a formal method of collecting information which made our history. At least from 2002, we have a place to keep and preserve the collected records. That is Sir D.B. Jayathilake Memorial Dharmaraja College Arc-hives. The idea of a college mu-seum came during the cen-tenary exhibition, to Mr. A.P. Gunarathna who managed to collect a reasonable amount of artifacts. Though Milton Senanayake building (Old Chemistry Lab) was officially allocated for the museum, it had no proper facilities to display or pre-serve artifacts and also was never used just as a mu-seum. There is also a rumor that some of the artifacts were stolen after Mr. Guna-rathne’s departure. When Mr. S.M. Keeriratna assumed duties in 2000 as the present principal, the National Archives was very active in promoting school archives. This inspired the new principal and he en-trusted the mammoth task of developing the college archives to 79/80 old boys’ group. The allocated build-ing was completely renovated, given a face change and equipped with showcases spending total of 1.2 million rupees. This was ceremonially opened in 2002 (See http://archives.dharmaraja.net/Activities.html). In order to ensure uninterrupted custody of the archives, the Dharmaraja Archives Foundation was established in 2004 as an independent body appointed by the principal. The initial fund for refurbishment activities was raised with the donation given from Sir D.B. Jaya-thilake trust by the Public Trustee and remainder was donated by the old boys and also by the Colombo and Melbourne old boys’ unions (DAANA did not exist at the time). During the last seven years we are trying our best to collect the historical information using various me-

thods. Interviews, voice and video recording of senior old Rajans, collecting information through data col-lection forms and news paper advertisements are among few. Though collecting scattered past infor-mation is obviously challenging, it is disturbing news that collecting present information has also become a formidable task. This is mainly because we do not have a culture of keeping records unlike Christian schools. Though the Archives committee has been continuously striving, even with fullest support from the principal, it is still difficult to inculcate such a culture into the school.

What reveal the college history to us? It is ironic that the same Dharmaraja Col-lege struggling today with-out a formal record keep-ing culture, had a record of issuing fortnightly printed magazine (using a stone press called ‘Gal Acchu-wa’) called ‘Telescope’ from 1902 to late 1930s pos-sibly becoming the first school to do such a record keeping activity in Sri Lan-ka. We have 3 issues of Telescope preserved in the Archives. In addition, photo copies of the magazines issued from 1909 - 1914 were obtained from Mr. Dharmathilake and he has promised to donate the originals to us. These were originally found by Mr. Ga-mini Gunawardane (who is also a Patron of the college archives and who has pro-

posed the concept of living museum for the college). He also found a collection of diaries of Colonel Henry Steel Olcott which were later donated to the Archives. According to some past teachers, a collection of the Telescope magazine was available in the principal’s record room. It was said that most of the records in that room were destroyed when that room was taken for some other purpose in late 60s or early 70s. We assume that the Telescopes also must have faced the same fate. In addition, there was an annual magazine called Rajans issued during the same period which collected all the important information of each year. Amongst the services rendered to the college by the principal during that era - Mr. K.F. Billimoria, his habit of collect-ing information and recording them itself shows visio-nary thinking he was possessed with. There are few

Dharmaraja History and the Role of Old Rajans By Kamalanath Samarakoon

10

Rajans volumes available in the Archives. The recent volumes of Rajans Magazine on 50th, Buddha Jayanthi, 80th and 100th anniversaries provide most of the con-temporary information of and around the anniversary

years. The Telescope and Rajans are the two types of documents that mostly provide details of our history. In addition, a couple of Principal’s reports, sports meet and colors night souvenirs reveal glimpses of our great history. After extensive search in the National Archives, we found ‘Buddhist Theosophical Society’s folder which has a potion for Dharmaraja which might pro-vide some information before 1900. I did not go through the document as the condition of it was so poor which prevented me from turning pages. In those pages, valuable information such as the names of the students who sat for London Matriculation ex-am, names of the teachers etc. are available. That document was sent for restoration and we have re-quested a copy of the folder and expecting to get it once the restoration is done.

The other main document type that reveals the history are the group photographs of the staff members and teams. Though they are not accompanied with any written documentation, we use them to start search-ing information by contacting the teachers and old Rajans in the photographs. It is happy to announce

that the collection of the photos of the 1st XV rugby teams and the names of the players have recently been completed by Kumudu - one of our motivated committee members. It took almost one year to com-plete the task and information collection process which was like begging door to door, contacting one team member after the other finally delivered the goods.

In order to support the data collection and administra-tion, a complete web database system is recently deployed. The collected information can now be ac-cessed through the Archives Web Portal (http://dhrmaraja.net). The information of the students from 1913 to 1997 (about 25,000) are now extracted from the admission book and entered into the data-base. Information of about 150 teachers is also in the

database. All the data stored in the database are linked to records of students and teachers. Registered users can access information through seven web ap-plications. The users can upload their photos, personal information and achievements during and after school days. The private Wikipedia, display this infor-mation as a summary to create an encyclopedic structure of the college history (http://history.dharmaraja.net). In addition, registered users can write a narrative on any topic while making interlinks with other pages of the private Wikipedia.

It may be startling news for you that we are losing our history. It is sad to

say that the college did not have a formal method of collecting infor-

mation which made our history. At least from 2002, we have a place

to keep and preserve the collected records. That is Sir D.B.Jayathilake

Memorial Dharmaraja College Arc-hives.

Three issues of the ‘Telescope’ magazine preserved

in the archives. The oval shaped photo depicts the building removed to construct the Billimoria Hall.

First documented get-together of old boys

Primary school staff in front of Natha Devalaya

11

Kamalanath Samarakoon attended Dharmaraja from 1975 to1983. He is one of the founders of the DRCK Archives and the current president of the Dharmaraja College Archives Foundation. He designed and administrates the Dharmaraja Web Database system that hosts, among other things, the archive. He is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the School of Engineering, Uni-versity of Peradeniya. DAANA appreciates Kamalanath’s contribution to the Digital Pencil.

At present, even though there are many events taking place in the college in a year, none of them are properly recorded. Particularly, the results of matches, sports events and other events, at least the names of the team members’ are not properly recorded. Infor-mation of educational achievements are not col-lected or recorded at all. There is no organized me-thod to take group photographs. Though we have a place and mechanisms to pre-serve information, collecting data is still a great chal-lenge. We want YOUR help to collect YOUR informa-tion. We want your name to serve as a role model for future Rajans and we want to preserve your informa-tion for the future generations to read and inspire.

Request 1: Please provide any information related to Dharmaraja that you have through the web applications in the web portal (http://dharmaraja.net) or to kamala-nath@ieee.org. Also please register in the database and update your personal information.

Request 2: As collecting new information that is being generated in the school is challenging, the committee seriously believes that the college archives should have a ded-icated paid employee to collect information who can fill the missing gaps while collecting new information. He or she will follow year by year, case by case and person by person to collect information. Without hav-ing such a person inside the college with focused commitment only for collecting and preserving infor-mation, parts of the college history will be lost. We are presently raising a fund which will provide a sufficient bank interest to pay a salary for an em-ployee. Please consider to contribute for this noble activity. We seek your generous contributions. Any contribution big or small is welcome. The names of the donors of over Rs. 5000.00 (US$ 44) are permanently displayed inside the archives. The list of donations can be accessed through the web (http://archives.dharmaraja.net/ArchivesDB/donations_list.php) and all the payments are subjected to the Principal’s scrutiny. The accounts are audited and are made available to the donors. This is the hour of need. We hope you will support this noble endeavor wholeheartedly.

May the Noble Triple Gem Bless You!

The first rugby team (1970). Until we found this pho-

tograph everybody believed the college rugby started in 1971

1st Kandy Scout Troop and 2nd in Ceylon In 1913, the 1st Kandy Scout Troop and the second in the Ceylon was formed at Dharmaraja, the first being the one at Christchurch College, Matale. At the time the scout master was the late J. H. De Saram a Sinha-lese, who became the first native Chief Commissioner of Scouting in Cey-lon, and his assistant was G. H. De Saram. Dharmaraja won the prestigious "King's Flag" for three consecutive years, in 1917, 1918 and 1919. 1st Kandy Scouts had the rare opportunity to honour the founder, Lord Baden Powell in 1921 on his visit to Dharmaraja College. Lord Baden Powell and J.H. De Saram are pictured here in Kandy. (Sunday Observer, 12/21/2008)

12

Professor Ananda Gu-ruge is a world renowned scholar in Sanskrit and Buddhism. He has held many distinguished posi-tions as a Civil servant, Dip-lomat and an Academic. He is also a prolific writer who has published 52 books and more than 150 scholarly publications.

Currently, Professor Guruge is the Dean of Academic Affairs, Director of the International Academy of Buddhism, and Editor of Hsi Lai Journal of Humanistic Buddhism of the University of the West (formerly Hsi Lai University), Los Angeles County, California. He is the 28th member of DAANA who joined DAANA in the 2nd week since its inception. How did you join DRCK? Quite ironically, it was an Italian Jesuit priest who ad-vised me to study humanities and thus directed me to select DRCK, a Buddhist school. I had my primary and secondary education at a Catholic missionary school in Ampitiya. I had planned to study math to become an engineer despite my greater passion for Pali and Sanskrit. However, this scholarly priest had other ideas about my future, probably after carefully assessing my strengths. He said that the Asians need to know how to appreciate their culture and insisted that people like me need to play a major role to make it happen by being able to interpret the culture of our part of the world to the rest of the world. The best place to ac-quire this knowledge as well as the attitudes of ap-preciation of the national heritage, according to my parents, was Dharmaraja College. I am glad that this decision was wisely made. Now, after more than 65 years, as I look back, I feel that I have achieved my objective. How was your school life? I enjoyed it enormously. I was from a modest family and we lived near Kandy railway station. Every day I used to walk 3 miles distance to my school in Ampitiya. The bus fare at that time was six cents, but I relished that 6 miles journey with my friends, enjoying the pa-noramic beauty of Kandy Lake. I was a student at DRCK from 1945 to 1946 and the daily walk was re-duced by two miles. I first did the London University Intermediate in Arts which enables me to be em-ployed as a teacher for seven months before entering the University of Ceylon in July 1947. I had a wonderful set of teachers and an equally inspiring batch of classmates. How did DRCK contributed to your life as a writer? Undoubtedly the enchanting natural beauty of the environment around Dharmaraja hill inspired my crea-tivity and imagination immensely. Those days we had

a lot of free periods. We used to climb to the top of the hill and spend a lot of time there, reading, writing and discussing scholarly topics. In fact, some of my first

books were written at the summit of this hill. Sinhala Sahitya Praveshaya was written in 1946 when I was in Grade XI. Mr. S. A. Wijetilake wrote a preface for it. My autobiography “Ma wani Bilinda” has a lot of de-tailed accounts about such excursions at DRCK. During this free time I learned a lot from my fellow stu-dents too. Most of them became leading figures in public service much later. Is it true that you scored highest marks in Sri Lanka at the university entrance examination in Arts stream? How did you excel in your studies at the University? That is true. I won the national University scholarship for this achievement and entered into the arts faculty of of the University of Ceylon in Colombo (the only Uni-versity then) in 1947. In 1950, I graduated with first class honours in Sanskrit special degree with History as the subsidiary. I was a very fast writer and one of my final exam answers had 51 pages. Those days, final degree exams were evaluated by a Professor of a Foreign University. The professors of London University who went through my answers could not believe this. They have informed Sir Ivor Jennings, the Vice Chan-cellor that they suspect whether I knew the questions well in advance, to write such long and explicit an-swers. My Professor, Dr. O. H. de A. Wijesekera had reported favourably about my skills. I also won the Government Scholarship tenable in England. As a re-sult London University decided to admit me to a PhD and waive the requirement to do a Masters. Then Jennings too extended the same offer to do a PhD without doing a MA. I accepted that very gladly be-cause I was also keen to compete for entry to the Ceylon Civil Service. What was the title of your PhD thesis?

Interview with Prof Ananda Guruge By Thushara Diyabalanage

I was convinced that I should study math to become an engineer de-

spite my greater passion for Pali and Sanskrit. Nevertheless, this high-ly educated priest had other ideas

about my future. He said that the Asians need to know how to ap-

preciate their culture and insisted that people like me need to play

major role to make it happen.

13

It was tilted Social Conditions of ancient India as re-flected in the the Valmiki Ramayana by Valmiki. This was published as a book later both in Sri Lankan and India and is regarded in very high esteem by the scho-lars even today. How did you get into the Civil service? You seem to have excelled in several entirely different roles as a civil servant? I took the civil service exam at the age of 23 and joined the civil service. My first appointment was to Jaffna Kachcheri. I had the dexterity and versatility to fit into several different roles as a civil servant. There was a time that I was in charge of Dehiwala Zoo as well from Colombo Kachcheri. Eventually I was trans-ferred to the treasury and from there to the Prime Minis-ter’s office. I served both Mr. Dudley Senanyake and Sir John Kotelawala until I was entrusted with the govern-ment program to celebrate 2500 Buddha jayanti. I was the youngest to act as a perma-nent secretary to a large min-istry. I never had problems with politicians and had very good relationships with all parties. As a result I was never transferred out of Colombo.

How did you become the secretary for the Prime mi-nister? I was not only the sole person who had PhD in Civil service that time, but also the only person who could write elegantly both in Sinhala and English, besides handling Tamil. Therefore, I was chosen for this job as Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake wanted someone with my linguistic skills. Eventually, I worked for Prime Minister Sir John Kotalawala as well. I must emphasize that even though the latter is known as a tough per-son, he was a great patriot with sheer humane quali-ties. My successor was none other than Mr Bradman

Weerakoon.

How did you leave Sri Lanka? While in Sri Lanka I was working as a Professor of San-skrit at Vidyodaya University. However, I realized that there was a growing passion deep inside me to de-vote more towards academia. When I could not resist it anymore, in 1967 I accepted an offer from University of Buffalo as the Professor of Asian Studies.

How did you join UNESCO and become a diplomat? During this time, UNESCO was looking for specialists from Third World countries to fill some key positions. It was Mr Iriyagolla who proposed my name. I was there for next 18 years. In 1985 Mr J. R Jaywardane and R.

Premadasa asked me to function as Sri Lankan Ambassador to both UNESCO and France. Subsequently in 1992 I was appointed as the ambassador to USA. In 1994 I retired and came to California to spend my retirement. You have been spending a lot time on writing. What’s your most recent work? So far I have written 53 books, mainly on Asian history, Buddhism and educa-tion. I have also published over 175 research articles on these subjects. I was awarded by Italy the prize for the

best work on Indology of the nineteen-ninteens fro my work of emperor Asoka I have just completed my newest contribution, a trilogy on Sri Lanka. They are Free at last in Paradise, Serendipity of Andrew George and Peace at last in Paradise. Is there any message that you want to convey to young Rajans and DAANA members? DRCK was formed with the objectives of providing leadership to Sinhala Bhuddhists, groom patriots and appreciate the culture of the country. They should strive to uphold those objectives. If you have a good objective, if you are prepared work really hard towards reaching it, there is nothing in the world that a Sri Lankan cannot achieve.

First two novels of a trilogy on Sri Lanka by

Dr Ananda Guruge. He has just completed the newest, “Peace at Last in Paradise”.

Undoubtedly the enchanting natu-ral beauty of the environment

around Dharmaraja hill inspired my creativity and imagination im-

mensely. Those days we had a lot of free periods.We used to climb to

the top of the hill and spend a lot of time there, reading, writing and discussing scholarly topics. In fact,

some of my first books were written at the summit of this hill.

14

The twenty-first century of the Current Era began nine years ago and the extraordinary developments in the world have already characterized it as a turbulent, violent and troublesome period of world history. But in less than two years another new century begins for us Buddhists. With the Vesak of 2011, we look forward to celebrating the 2600th anniversary of the Enlighten-ment of the princely ascetic Siddhartha Gautama or more importantly the beginning of Buddhism. To us this is certainly an event of very great significance for which we have to prepare by rededicating ourselves to follow more diligently the noble teachings of the Buddha. Therefore, I consider it appropriate to ex-amine Buddhism in relation to both these centuries. When the United Nations marked the dawn of the current century and with it the commencement of another millennium with the Millennium Summit of Re-ligious Leaders, I was very happy, as a participant, that religion was given due recognition as a major influence on lives of people and, as a consequence, an essential aid to foster peace and harmony and well being of people and peoples. But in the very next year in the very city where the Summit was held a das-tardly violent tragedy was perpetrated on 9/11 or the eleventh of September. Resulting from it, two wars have been raging with enormous loss of life and limb for eight long years in Iraq and Afghanistan. Tragically, the 9/11 violence leading to these two wars was the result of misplaced religious fervor of misguided youth.

One began to ask questions like the following: Has religion once again become a destructive force as the British clergyman of the eighteenth century, Charles Caleb Colton, stated in his dictum: “Men will wrangle for religion; write for it; fight for it, anything but – live for it?” Is religion becoming a negative factor to be discouraged and forgotten for the good of hu-manity? It is noteworthy that the question of Buddhism towards the new century is discussed at a time when the debate is at its highest. How is Buddhism affected?

Only a little more than a century has elapsed since Buddhism came to be known internationally outside the circle of traditionally Buddhist countries of Asia. If one takes a census of people who have since em-braced Buddhism as their personal religion and those who, calling themselves Friends of Buddhism, practice some aspects of Buddhism in their lives, the numerical expansion of knowledgeable practitioners in the world is phenomenal. In many countries Buddhism has been declared the fastest growing religion. Similarly, if one takes stock of teachers, researchers, writers and other exponents of Buddhism, one is bound to be very im-pressed. Equally significant are the publications in nu-merous languages, which are annually produced for an ever-expanding reading public. So are Buddhist institutions, shrines, stupas and the like springing up in

practically every country in the world. Why does Buddhism appear to be so favored?

Some would say the reason for Buddhism to flourish is that it is not a religion: It is a philosophy, a way of life and a sensible code of ethics. They would further dis-tinguish Buddhism from the organized religions of the world on three grounds: First, it has no centralized au-thority interpreting and reinterpreting a set of dogmas in which total belief is mandatory; Second, it has no priesthood that intermediates between the adherent and his spiritual goal and claims to have the ritual-based power to grant or deny redemption; Third, Buddhism has no place for mere rites and ritual in its Path of Deliverance which one follows at will and at one’s own pace and the only requirement is diligence in avoiding all evil, doing good and keeping the mind pure. These are very important in the present century as education, science and technology and intellec-tual capability of the human race make giant strides in every nook and corner of the world.

The Buddha himself or his senior disciples saw further characteristics of his teachings, which were summa-rized in six items. The Dhamma that the Buddha pre-sented was svakkhāto – well-spoken or well-declared. It only needs a deep study of a few discourses to agree with this description of the Buddha’s teachings. They are well organized, well–argued, well-worded and lucidly explained with a rich vocabulary of syn-onyms and illustrated with apt human-interest pa-rables and anecdotes. I have had the opportunity to study how the Buddha taught and am impressed with his remarkable mastery of the art or science of teach-ing. It is no wonder that he told his disciples to refrain from performing any miracles other than the miracle of instruction. Conviction and compliance, achieved through skillful teaching, is indeed a miracle.

The next set of qualities of Buddhism comprising sandiţţhika and akalika indicates the time frame for the validity of the Buddha’s teachings. Sandiţţhika means applicable to present time in one’s own life.

A Task for the Buddhists in the New Century By Professor Ananda W.P. Guruge

With the Vesak of 2011, we look forward to celebrating

the 2600th anniversary of the Enlightenment of the princely ascetic Siddhartha Gautama

or more importantly the be-ginning of Buddhism.

15

Buddhism does not teach for a life after death be-cause Enlightenment, the goal of a Buddhist practi-tioner, is to be and can be achieved in this very life. Every principle of Buddhism is applicable to life here and now. So are the benefits that accrue from adher-ing to them. Here Akālika simply means that Buddhism has no expiry date. It is valid for all times as its history of twenty-six centuries clearly testifies.

The fourth quality, expressed as ehipassika –literally come and see, is by far the most significant feature of Buddhism. The Buddha had faith in the intellectual capacity of the human being to think critically and make choices. He was not teaching a secret doctrine couched in abstruse logic. He had the full confidence to invite anybody to subject his teachings to the most stringent scrutiny and dissection.

To the Kalamas he said most emphatically, “Do not accept anything on mere hearsay or tradition, on account of rumors or because it accords with your scriptures, by mere supposition or inference, by merely considering the reasons, or because it agrees with your precon-ceived notions and there-fore seems acceptable or because the preacher is a respected person.” He wanted everyone to think for oneself. The freedom of thought and dissent, which the Buddha upheld, had enriched an entire continent for two millennia and the whole world now to understand and practice his way of life in their own different modes as we see in various traditions and schools.

If this openness led to changes in emphasis and me-thods in comparison to his early teachings, the Budd-ha made no effort to stymie change. After all, accord-ing to the Buddha Impermanence was the only thing that was ever permanent. Change and evolution are intractable processes and his teachings are not ex-empt from them.

The Buddha taught his Dhamma for a purpose, which was so succinctly described as opanayiko – leading to a goal. The goal, which the Buddha himself accom-plished in six years 2598 years ago, was the end of suffering through Enlightenment. Nibbāņa -- that bliss-ful state he attained with Buddhahood -- is open and accessible to all. In the terminology of the Northern Buddhism, everyone is possessed of the Buddha Na-ture. The Dhamma is the vehicle that takes one on the

Path to end suffering. It is a Path with a definite desti-nation, which is liberation, release, emancipation, sal-vation or redemption.

The sixth and last of the qualities of Dhamma is that it has to be realized individually by each one of the wise people (paccattam veditabbo viññūhi). Each of these three words in this expression is full of specific mean-ing. The Dhamma is something to be known and rea-lized. It has to be understood correctly and the Budd-ha has a telling parable to stress it. A man who hunts water snakes should know to catch them by the head. If the snake is caught by its tail, it can turn around and bite the hunter. The Buddha had to give this advice because there was a major situation caused by the misunderstanding of his exposition of suffering. Some disciples were so convinced about the futility of life that they wished to take a short cut to end their life of

suffering. They either com-mitted suicide or got others to kill them. They might have been influenced by the teachings of Jina Mahāvīra whose Path of Extreme Self-mortification enjoined suicide by starva-tion (sallekhana).The Budd-ha did not have such a notion. That was the reason for promulgating the third Pārājikā precept banning homicide.

This realization had to be by oneself because early Buddhism did not postulate salvation by grace. No one could lead another by

hand to Nibbana. Tumhehi kiccam ātappam/ Akkhātāro tathāgatā (What needs to be done has to be accomplished by you alone, for the Buddhas are only the pointers of the way.) We have schools of Buddhism, which have departed from this concept and talk instead of two approaches to salvation as Jiriki and Tariki. In Japanese Jiriki means by one’s own effort and Tariki means salvation though another’s grace. The chanting of Dharaņis, name of Amitābha Buddha, homage to the Lotus Sūtra and the Vajraya-na incantation Om manipadme hum falls to this cate-gory. Despite such popular short cuts, the serious study of the philosophical teaching of the Buddha in all tra-ditions demands individual application and mastery.

The third element of this expression lays emphasis on the wisdom of the practitioner. Buddhism is to be rea-lized by the wise. – by those with intellectual capacity. The Dhamma is beyond comprehension and accep-tance of those who are intellectually backward as to believe in magical rites and ritual or predestination and have no capacity to distinguish between good

To the Kalamas he said most em-phatically, “Do not accept any-

thing on mere hearsay or tradition, on account of rumors or because it

accords with your scriptures, by mere supposition or inference, by

merely considering the reasons, or because it agrees with your pre-

conceived notions and therefore seems acceptable or because the

preacher is a respected person”.

16

and evil. So was it recognized that the Buddha’s Dhamma was to be known and realized by the wise.

What benefits does one derive from this Dhamma? It is said, “Dhammo have rakkhati dhammacari – The Dhamma certainly protects the observers of Dhamma. In what better way could the Buddha signify that the reward for being righteous comes from righteousness itself? It is a concept for most people to understand that the reward does not come from a Godhead whether an omniscient monotheistic creator-God or a divine trinity or a pantheon of polytheistic deities. The Dhamma, which encompasses the simple but still comprehensive ethical code of Buddhism, is founded on the purity of the mind that one achieves by over-coming lobha, dosa and moha in their diverse ramifi-cations, permutations and combinations.

How does one achieve the highest saintly state of be-ing an Arahant and attain the sumnum bonum of Buddhism, namely Nibbana? It is to be achieved through the Noble eightfold Path – Ariya aţţhangikamagga. Action begins with thought. One enters the path with Right Thought and Right Resolu-tion. Thought governs speech and Right Speech is speech free of falsehood, harshness, slander and fri-volous futility. Then comes Right Action, which consists of abstaining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct and intoxication. Right Livelihood is to earn one’s living righteously by letting others to live. Once one’s thought, word and deed are so disciplined, one proceeds to Right Effort, by training the most crucial inner controller of our lives, namely the mind. That training proceeds to Right Mindfulness or living in full awareness and culminates in Right Concentration. In two beautiful lines has the Buddha explained the en-tire path:

Sile patiţţhāya naro sapañño Cittam paññañ ca bhāvaye

(The wise establishing in virtuous conduct May devel-op his mind and wisdom)

Once the mind is thus fine-tuned and focused, the process of further purifying the mind commences with the eightfold stages of Path and Fruit – Maggaphala. Setting on the Path of Stream-entrant, one reaches the Fruit of Sotāpanna by eliminating self-delusion (sakkyādiţţhi), perplexity (vickicchā) and reliance on mere rites and ritual (sīlabbataparāmāsa). Setting on the Path of Once-returner and suppressing sensual lust (kamaraga) and malice or animosity (vyāpāda), one attains the Fruit of Sakadāgami. Overcoming the same two fetters in the Path of Non-returner, one reaches the Fruit of Anāgāmi.

Five more fetters remain. These are to be eliminated in the Path of full sainthood. They are craving for fine-material or immaterial existence ( rūparāga and arūparāga), conceit (māna), restlessness (uddhacca) and finally ignorance or not-knowing (avijjā). Then does one succeed in attaining the Fruit of Arahant.

What the Buddha has presented so systematically is a humanistic approach to ethical perfection. As it enters the new millennium with the twenty-first century, the world today looks eagerly for a form of humanism to overcome the evils of war, violence, insecurity, moral degeneration, prejudice, intolerance, incivility, apa-thy, economic exploitation and collapse, and despair. Where do all these evils begin? Nowhere else other than in the mind of the humans – not in the minds of birds and beasts. If the modern human being looks into the spiritual heritages which each nation in the world had preserved from generation to generation, he or she will no doubt observe that the humanism we seek today is found in the most logical and practical form in Buddhadhamma, the teachings of the Budd-ha, which in common parlance we call Buddhism.

Now my last question: What role do we have as prac-ticing Buddhists in the world today? Buddhism has come to most us as our birthright with the milk of our mothers. We are heirs to a long and chequered history with a magnificent spiritual heritage. There are with us who, after their intellectual quest for a set of beliefs and practices, have chosen Buddhism as their guide to life. We are all Buddhists and we have in our hands a priceless treasure from which the modern world can benefit enormously. How we share this with the whole of the humanity is a challenge that we have to meet especially in the century that begins in two years with the 2600th anniversary of the attainment of Enlighten-ment by the Buddha.

Buddhism is not shared by merely communicating information and knowledge through teaching, pub-lishing, mass media, Internet and the like. Our life, our dedication, our conduct, our commitment to human welfare, and our example alone will show the world that the humanism that guides us is what the rest of the humanity is searching for. This is our task for the new century and this is our challenge for the new mil-lennium.

Sabbe sattā bhavantu sukhitattā (May all beings be happy and well.)

17

When we were in pursuit of more Old Rajans in North America, Mr Gamini Gunawardane of Colombo OBA told us about a “Six foot fast bowler who terrorized opponents in 60’s now domiciled in Canda. It was Anil Ellepola who found him for us after they crossed paths at a Monastery in Ottawa. Yet it was very difficult to get an interview from Mr Shanti U. Mendis due to his busy schedule. Finally we were able to interview him as he was staying at an Inter Continental in Montreal engaged in an official assignment.

Shanti Mendis is a unique type of an all-rounder, someone who has excelled in almost all sports whilst maintaining high academic standards. As a sportsman and a professional he has been able to stand firm for what he believed as correct, defying all odds.

Shanti Mendis is the 110th member of DAANA. Shanti lives in Ottawa with his family. Thushara Diyabalanage and Sajith Ellepola Interviewed Shanti Mendis for this feature article.

When did you join DRCK, How was your school life? I joined DRCK in 1954 when I was in grade two. My father was a planter who lived in an estate behind Hantana mountain range. So, I was always boarded at a boarding house in Kandy and finally at the hostel. I had a wonderful school life at DRCK. You seem to have simply excelled in all sports activi-ties at school, can you please explain?

I captained the cricket, soccer and athletics teams and was awarded the ‘dagaba’ in all these sports. I also represented the college in Hockey and won col-ors. What was your most memorable experience as a cricketer at DRCK? I had the privilege of knowing and playing with some of great fast bowlers the college has pro-duced. Sonny (Sonny Yatawara) and Kehel (T. B. Ke-helgamuwa) were true fast bowlers who went on to represent Sri Lanka later on. We played during the days of ‘no helmets’ on a matting wicket. Though Ke-hel was lot faster, Sonny was a terror. However, quite ironically they both were men with average physiques. There is a story about a third term fixture we had against Trinity when Sonny had a bad day on a rain affected wicket. He went to Ananda in December and was playing for Ananda against Trinity in January. Trinitians were confident that they had no worries as Sonny was relatively unknown. He ran through the Trinity side! He had the knack of bowling ‘bouncers’ aimed straight at the head. Sonny came to Coach College when I was starting first eleven cricket and got me to do the same. With his guidance I could make the ball rise sharply from a length to the bats-man’s face! Is it true that Sonny clean bowled Sir Garfield Sobers once? Yes, I remember that incident, as I watched that match. The West Indies were returning from Australia after that memorable tied test. As their ship was anc-hored in Colombo harbor, one day match was ar-ranged between a team comprising some great West Indian cricketers against a local eleven led by Mi-chean Tissera. A huge crowd has gathered to see this match as they wanted to see the legends like Sobers, Weeks, Kanhai, Hall and Solomons. Sonny was able to shatter Sobers’s stumps when he was showing his presence known. Ironically people hooted as they were disappointed since that deprived them the rare opportunity of seeing the great master in action. You played with ‘Kehel’ in the same team, can you re visit some of those memories? Kehel was truly fast. It is said that it was Mr Amra-nayake who discovered Kehel. He was on vacation in Gampola and has seen him bowling with ‘ottapau ball with enormous speed. That turned out to be a

Interview with S.U. Mendis By Sajith Ellepola and Thushara Diayabalanage

18

great discovery. Kehel used to scare his opponents with sheer speed. I recall the match against Richmond (they were all out for 30) and Kehel had me a few yards away from the wicket at gully. He deli-vered a fast ball outside the off-stump and the batsman cut it in a desperate bid to get out of the way. So did I, as I covered my face with hands and fall back, but felt something hitting my fingers as I fell back. In a moment I realized that I had taken a great catch! It is said that Kehel was not only a great fast bowler but also a very good hitter? Yes he was famous for hit-ting big sixers and had a very good reputation for targeting principal’s bunga-low quite regularly. It was said that the principal had to replace the tiles several times. The other famous fast bowler of that time was Late Major General Nalin Angammana, who was the best bowler in schools in 1964, when I captained the team. He was a great left arm seam bowler who had the ability to pitch the ball on or outside the off stump and take the leg stump off Even though, you represented Sri Lanka in rugby, you did not represent Dharmaraja? Rugger at DRCK was stopped for many years as a player was killed. Unfortunately I belonged to that era. Probably you would have derived some of those skills in rugby while playing soccer at Dharmaraja? How was soccer at DRCK at your time? Yes. I had a very good kick and could kick equally well from both legs. We had some great players. Tom Os-sen who captained Ceylon, G.S. Piyatissa who played for Ceylon and later on became a renowned coach in Sweden, Marrikar who also played for the national

team, were in that team. I was the Captain and the goalie. In one match when I kicked the ball from my goal area, it bounced once and hit the arm of a de-fender inside the penalty area of the opponents. We

were winning 4-0 and I shouted “don’t touch the ball” and kicked the pe-nalty, scoring a goal while keeping goal. Do you have any other memorable incidents while at DRCK? We had a college sports meet just after I had bro-ken the Central Province record for the Discus throw. When my turn came I felt that the discus given to me was some-what ligh-

ter/smaller. Regardless, I did my throw and the disc flew in the air, hit the edge of the ground and disap-peared into the foliage below. Everybody was excited since it was obvious that I had broken the national record by few feet. Finally, the disc was found and it

turned out to be the junior disc! The Prefect of Games, Mr. Amara-nayake, tore a strip off and almost disqualified me! You had been an ex-traordinary type of an all-rounder. While engaging yourself deeply on extra-curricular activities, you have maintained an ex-ceptionally high level in academics as well. I did quite well in aca-demics and I was able to enter into engineering Faculty. My first love was Physics. I won the gold medal for the best all

round student in 1962 or 63. I was a member of the debating team captained by Prof (SWRD) Samara-singhe and was the also the Editor of the college Magazine. I was the Senior Prefect in my last two years at college.

I had the privilege of knowing and playing with some of the great fast

bowlers the college has pro-duced. Sonny (Sonny Yatawara)

and Kehel (T.B. Kehelgamuwa) were true fast bowlers who went on to represent Sri Lanka later on. We played during the days of ‘no hel-

mets’ on a matting wicket. Though Kehel was lot faster, Sonny was a

terror.

Ceylon's fast bowler Kehelgamuva and wicket-keeper Fernando rejoice after the former had bowled Milkha Singh for 3 in the Gopalan Trophy match between All Ceylon and Madras on

March 16, 1969. (source: Frontline Magazine, India)

19

How did your passion towards sports continue at Pera-deniya University? At Peradeniya, I represented the University in all these sports and started on Rugby. I also represented up-country in the annual up-country/low-country match and was selected to play for “Ceylon” at the end of my second year. I captained the Cricket and Rugby teams and was the President of Sports Council in 1968/9. A humorous incident occurred when the committee to select the best all-round sportsman was to be con-vened where I was a member. Mr. Leslie Handunge (Director, Physical Education) requested me to excuse myself from the three person committee since I was considered the obvious ‘front’ runner. I refused and said I did not wish to be considered for this award. My good friends Jayatissa Herath (retired Senior D.I.G) and Anan-da Jayasundara, retired Bank of Ceyon (both rajan’s) were the others in conten-tion. Handunge was trying to convince me that I was the best can-didate but I said no I am not interested (I had also won the most out-standing sportsman award that year). Finally, “Tissa” and “Ana” were both given the award for the best all-round sportsman. You certainly seemed to be a rebel of your own; can you recall any memorable experience? One incident that stays in my mind was playing for a President’s XV team Captained by Late Denzil Kobbe-kaduwa against the visiting Bosuns from Engalnd. I remember that it was Denzil and I who mainly tackled the visitors. Before the game, I got a note from the SLRFU to pay Rs 25 towards a social and dinner with the visitors! This was too much for me and I took the night train back. That year, for the AGM of the SLRFU, I insisted Mr. Handunge that I should attend as the varsi-ty representative since I was the President of the Sports Council. He who belonged to the ‘old school’ didn’t want me to go. I told him that I will see the Vice Chancellor for a ruling. The VC at that time was Prof. E.O.E. Pereira, who was the former Dean of the Eng Faculty. He loved sports especially Rugby, and treated me like a son. At the AGM, I spoke about the post card I received to pay Rs. 25 and posed the question: “It was our blood, sweat and tears on the field. You

gentlemen were entertaining yourself at the bar after the match at the expense of the SLRFU, but wanted us to pay Rs.25! I toured with the Ceylon team imme-diately afterwards and was referred to as an “indiscip-lined undergrad’ because I spoke my mind. I am sure Kandy sports club was there that time, did we have the same rugby league system that time (div 1, b division etc). How was Peradeniya University rugby that time, did Peradeniya play in any league? There were two divisions – A & B. Peradeniya was in the “B”. Kandy was in A and did very well in that year. Denzil Kobbekaduwa was under suspension from the army in the late 60s but didn’t do too well in the 70s. He was a player who never knew fear. The top two

teams in the “B” were in-cluded in the knock-out. We did quite well at the begin-ning of a Rugby season but dropped a lot of points during the exam period. We came to the quarter final one year and held CR to 0-0 at half-time. I used to be a place kicker and have put over 50 yard penalties Do you have any other unfor-gettable memories at Pera-deniya? I vividly remember a particular incident. During the filming of

Hantane Kathawa (Director Dharmasena Pathiraja is a old rajan) I was riding my bicycle that had no brakes, only two wheels and frame and almost banged into Vijaya Kumaratunga, who was walking in the lovers lane area with a famous actress. He said something which annoyed me and I said “you actors better re-member this is a university”. We had some words ex-changed and I was planning to disrupt the filming. When Pathi got to know about it he intervened and made a compromise between us. Much later, Vijaya came to the Grand Prix held at the Katunayake run-way with Chandrika Kumaratunge. He stopped his car when he saw me, and asked ”malli, kohomada sapa saneepa”. It is said that he never forgot a face. How did you achieve the balance between the stu-dies and extra-curricular activities? And what is the advise/s you can give to the younger generation who is trying to achieve this? I think the balance I tried to achieve was a life time training to never postpone something for another day. I always got my homework done on the same day itself. In fact, I remember when I was at Peradeniya,

During the filming of Hantane Ka-thawa, I was riding my bicycle that

had no brakes, only two wheels and frame and almost banged into

Vijaya Kumaratunga, who was walking in the ‘Lovers Lane’ area

with a famous actress. He said something which annoyed me and I said “you actors better remember

this is a university”.

20

we used to take the afternoon train coming from Ba-dulla or Nanu-Oya and travel to Colombo for Rugger matches; then return in the night-mail back to cam-pus. Still I will complete my day’s work before I got to bed. Were you planning to join the Air Force after Gradua-tion? Not at all, it is yet another interesting story. I was friend-ly with former Air Force chief, Air Vice Marshal Harry Goonatilake, who was a great rugby fan. He used to contact me whenever he came to Peradeniya to visit his nieces. I used to ensure him safe passage inside campus without getting harassed by unruly under-grads those days. One day, I came to Colombo to watch a rugger match and went to get his help as I did not know how to get to that ground. I was wearing slippers like a typical varsity student those days. The sentries who were guarding the en-trance were surprised that someone in that attire wanted to meet one of the top officers at SLAF claim-ing him as a friend. They did not let me enter the offic-er’s mess as I did not have the proper dress code. So I was standing outside until Harry arrived. He agreed to escort me to the match and took me inside and offered a drink. As we were talking, an of-ficer who was conducting a new recruitment cam-paign happened to pass by. Harry Gunatillaka stopped him, introduced me and asked why he does not take an application from me. I just scribbled an application though I was not sure how I can contri-bute to SLAF as an engineer. That’s how I ended up in SLAF and made my entry into the fascinating field of aeronautic engineering. Of course, Harry was not in-terested in me as an engineer. How did your career progress as aeronautical engi-neer and a sportsman? At SLAF I had an excellent opportunity to get advance knowledge on aeronautical engineering. As I learned more I developed a great passion towards Jet propul-sion engineering and that opened me several new openings. Meanwhile, I represented SLAF both in Rugby and cricket. I gave up cricket as the lingering injuries to the shoulders troubling me. After I hung up my boots, I coached the SLAF team. Once, in a game against CR&FC, an Air Force player was penalized and there

was this person who was screaming for the ref to throw the offender off the field. I walked up to him and told him to shut up or that I will remove him. One of the junior officers ran up to me and said, you are threaten-ing the Cabinet Secretary’s friend. Little did I know that the secretary himself was sitting in the next seat. It did not take too for me to face the consequences. I was nominated to attend a sports event in China representing the Air Force. The person doing the inter-view was none other than the Cabinet Secretary G.V.P. Samarasinghe. When I spoke about my associ-ation with Sports and he concluded by saying: “You have to be very diplomatic to go on such a mission”! I was not selected. Is it true that you were offered a bribe worth millions to cover up a fraud? Yes it is true. After leaving Air force, I joined Air Lanka. I was one of the first locals promoted to the position of Manager in the Air Lanka engineering dept. As the Production Planning Manager of Air Lanka, Engineer-ing Dept, one of my responsibilities was to administer maintenance contracts. However, I realized that I was kept out of the loop with respect to the Boeing 747 maintenance with Singapore Airlines. It was the Indian GM who took this task upon himself. Having suspected some foul play, I studied the report meticulously and did my own analysis. In contrary to the GMs report my conclusion was that Singapore Air Lines owed us $5 millions as per the formula in the contract. When I raised this issue, my Boss said that my job will be at risk if I was proven wrong. Yet I decided to take the challenge. When we were in Singapore, discussing this issue, I was offered a sub-stantial bribe to bring this figure down by a significant amount. I declined and exposed the fraud thus mak-ing sue Air Lanka get its money back. This was one of the last functions I did at Air Lanka, before submitting my resignation after a battle with newly hired Pakistani GM. What is your current occupation? I am one of the two Airworthiness Specialists in Interna-tional Operations Branch of the Civil Aviation Authority of Canada. My job requires me to travel overseas to confirm/ensure that foreign operators coming to Canada are properly equipped and able to conduct a safe operation.

21

D. H. Lawrence was an English author, poet, play-wright, essayist and literary critic. His collected works represent an extended reflection upon the dehuma-nizing effects of modernity and industrialization. In them, Lawrence confronts issues relating to emotion-al health and vitality, spontaneity, human sexuality and instinct (Wikipedia). His novel “Lady Chatterley's Lover” is perhaps the best known book among Rajans.

Lake View Hill in Kandy, seventy years ago, was a de-lightful mix of scattered trees waist-deep in pungent ‘maana’ grass with a steep red gravel road and stony footpaths which led up to the sprawling garden and rambling old bungalow of the Principal of Dharmaraja College. It became our family’s home at this time when Dharmaraja’s charismatic Principal Kularatne invited my father D.T. Devendra to join his teaching staff. The Kularatne family generously shared the house with us for many months. The airy old house had an open verandah with a glorious view of Kandy Lake glimmering blue in the sunshine or dimly reflecting street lamps and flaming processional torches in its inky depths at night. The overgrown garden was a paradise of earthly delights for the four Devendra children. We woke to the chirping, twittering and tril-ling of birds that flew in and out of berry laden bushes and trees where they fed and nested. Once in a while a slim green snake slid through the grass or slithered up a tree raising goose- pimples on us Colombo-raised children. We rarely had the pleasure of tasting the fruit of the large mango tree which overspread the garden

to shadow the road to the school. Schoolboys smartly flung stones to bring down the green ‘geta’ greatly relished for their crisp bite and milky sourness. The fruits on the higher branches, beyond the range of school-boy marksmen, managed to ripen - only to feed the nightly clouds of squeaking bats. Sadly, we moved on

to other homes and other towns and this lovely old garden receded down the dim corridors of memory. Many years passed. I was at the [one and only] Uni-versity reading for a degree in English when, with a thrill of recognition, I read D.H. Lawrence’s wonderful poem ‘Elephant’ and realized that he too had lived some time in Kandy, though in the 1920s. As the critical scrutiny of literature was our aim at the time, not a quixotic search for actual locations, I never bothered to find out where Lawrence had lived in Kandy. Dec-ades passed.

A few years ago I was in Kandy at a gathering of ‘old boys’ of Dharmaraja sharing reminiscences. I told the Principal Mr. Damunupola that my first home in Kandy had been the lovely old bungalow he was now fortu-nate enough to occupy. He gently smiled and said “Somebody even more eminent than you lived there some years earlier. Did you know that D.H. Lawrence lived there for a few months?” I was amazed at the revelation and persuaded him to take me along to visit the home of my long ago childhood – now made more magical by the shade of D.H. Lawrence. I spent a few nostalgic hours walking the verandah overlook-ing the Lake and imagining myself in Lawrence’s shoes mulling over his ‘Elephant’. Some months ago I wrote a tribute to Kularatne’s daughter Maya Senaayake where I spoke of the mag-ical months our family had spent in the Dharmaraja Principal’s Bungalow. My old friend W. Panditaratne had read this and, to my delightful surprise, sent me photocopies of the letters Lawrence had sent while

D.H. Lawrence on Dharmaraja Hill (with grateful acknowledgements to ‘The Ceylankan’ (Australia) November 2007) By Tissa Devendra

I told the Principal Mr. Damunupola that my first home in Kandy had

been the lovely old bungalow he was now fortunate enough to oc-

cupy. He gently smiled and said “Somebody even more eminent than you lived there some years

earlier. Did you know that D.H. Law-rence lived there for a few

months?”

D.H. Lawrence

22

living at “Ardnaree” Lake View Hill Estate – the earlier ‘avatar’ of the Principal’s Bungalow. There is a particular significance in this correspon-dence to the readers of “The Ceylankan”. Lawrence left Kandy and went on to live, briefly once more, in Australia. I will now let the letters of this rather querul-ous genius speak for themselves. PRELUDE

Lawrence came to Ceylon in 1922 at the invitation of his artist American friends Earl and Achshah Brewster who were already living in “Ardnaree” and studying Buddhism. Achshah gives a vivid description of the house and garden in her “Ceylon the Luxuriant”.

“Verandahs encircle the house: thickets and jungle encroach on the open compound………We can see the mongoose climbing a jak tree, from the trunk of which depend fruits like green melons. Beautiful trees are alive with birds and little chipmunks, marked with the stripes of Siva’s fingers. Termites raise mounds like models of Gothic cathedrals. The garden swarms with creatures. Shrills with bird cries and insect hums, bursts with lush life, flowering, producing…….Life bears an inextinguishable flame in this land.” Little wonder that Lawrence and Frieda sailed to Cey-lon and went on to Kandy to live with the Brewsters in their Edenic retreat on 14 March 1922 THE LETTERS The rather frail Lawrence, however, did not share the Brewsters’ enthusiasm for “Ardnaree” and soon began to find the heat increasingly intolerable. On 25th March his letter to Catherine Carswell speaks of the Raja Perahera for the Prince of Wales he saw - which inspired his “Elephant” “We’re in a nice spacious bun-galow on the hill above Kandy in a sort of half jungle of a coconut palm estate- and cocoa – beautiful and such sweet scents; The Prince of Wales was here on Thursday – and looks worn out. The Perahera in the evening with a hundred elephants was lovely. I don’t believe I shall ever work here.” Three short days later he writes to Mrs. A.L. Jenkins in Australia – already tiring of Kandy and the Buddhism so dear to his hosts, the Brewsters “Well here we’ve been for a fortnight – rather lovely to look at, the place – but very hot and I don’t feel at all myself. Don’t think I care for the East. Shall try going up to Nuwara Eliya this week I don’t think we shall stop long – two or three months then come on. My mind turns towards Australia I have a fancy for the apple-growing regions, south from Perth: have a great fancy to see apple trees in blossom and to be really “white”. I feel absolutely dead off Buddhism, with Nibbana or Nirvana, Kama or Karma. They can have Buddha Tell

me if you think we should like W. Australia – if not we’ll go straight to Sydney.” Lawrence was an indefatigable letter writer. His letter to Robert Pratt Barlow, written just two days after writ-ing to Mrs. Jenkins shows, once again, both fascination with the Perahera elephants and dissatisfaction with the Buddhism he found in Ceylon –“…We were at the Perahera here for the Prince of Wales. It was wonder-ful, gorgeous and barbaric with all the elephants and flames and devil dances in the night. One realizes how barbaric the substratum of Buddhism is. I shrewdly sus-pect that high-flownness of Buddhism altogether exists mainly on paper; and that its denial of the soul makes it rather barren, even if philosophically etc., more per-fect. In short, after a slight contact, I draw back and don’t like it…..” Later on, in the same letter Lawrence, rather surprising-ly, expresses ideas that can only be described as pro-to-fascist in their distaste, towards Buddhism and Hin-duism, as well as English working men ! -“…I rather

think that the most living clue in life is in us Englishmen in England, and the great mistake we make is not unit-ing together in the strength of this real living clue – religious in the most vital sense-uniting together in Eng-land and so carrying this vital spark through. Because as far as we are concerned it is in danger of being quenched. I know it is a shirking of the issue to look to the Buddha or the Hindu, or to our own working men, for the impulse to carry through. It is in ourselves, or nowhere and this looking to the outer masses is only a betrayal……”

On 11 April he writes to Austin Harrison – “…I’ve been in Ceylon a month and nearly sweated myself into a shadow. Still it is a wonderful pace to see and expe-rience. There seems to be a flaw in the atmosphere, and one sees a darkness, and through the darkness the days before the Flood, marshy with elephants mud-grey and buffaloes rising from the mud, and soft-boned voluptuous sort of people, like plants under water, stirring in myriads…I think I shall go on to Austral-ia at the end of the month…”

Achshah Brewster, with whom the Lawrences lived in “Ardnaree”, has

left a charming vignette of the poet at work, in cosy domesticity –

“Across the pages of the copy book his hand moved rhythmically, steadily, unhesitatingly, exquisitely,

leaving a trail of small writing as legible as print”.

23

Achshah Brewster, with whom the Lawrences lived in “Ardnaree”, has left a charming vignette of the poet at work, in cosy domesticity –“Across the pages of the copy book his hand moved rhythmically, steadily, un-hesitatingly, exquisitely, leaving a trail of small writing as legible as print. No blots, no scratching marred its beauty….All of this went on in the family circle. Frieda would come for consultation as to whether the rab-bit’s legs should be embroidered in yellow or white. The pen would be lifted for a moment then go on across the page. Sometimes Lawrence would stop and consult us about the meaning of a word : consi-dering seriously whatever comments were offered. He listened gravely and intently to everyone.” Lawrence writes to Catherine Carswell on 17 April – “We are sailing on at the end of the month to Australia – find Ceylon too hot and enervating, though it was lovely to look at it. The East is queer – how it seems to bleed one’s energy and make one indifferent to eve-rything ! If I don’t like Australia I shall go on to San Francisco…” “Elephant” is foreshadowed in his last letter from “Ard-naree”, on 30 April to Lady Cynthia Asquith, as also his disillusionment with life in Ceylon –“I didn’t like Ceylon – at least I liked looking at it – but not to live in. The East is not for me – the sensuous spiritual voluptuous-ness, the curious sensitiveness of the naked people, their black bottomless, hopeless eyes – and the heads of buffaloes and elephants poking out of primeval mud – the queer noise of tall metallic palm trees ach! Altogether the tropics have something of the world before the flood – hot, dark mud and the life inherent in it makes me sick. But wonderful to have known. We saw the [Prince of Wales] at the [Perahera?] a lonely little glum white fish he was sitting up there at the Temple of the Tooth with his chin on his hands gazing blankly down on all the swirl of the East, like a sort of Narcissus waiting to commit black suicide. The Perahe-ra was wonderful – midnight – huge elephants, great flares of coconut torches, princes like peg-tops swathed round and round with muslin – and then tom-toms and savage music and devil dances – phase after phase – and that lonely little white fish- up aloft –and the black eyes and the black bright sweating bodies of the naked dancers – and the clanging of great mud-born elephants roaring past – made an enormous impression on me – a glimpse into the world before the Flood. I can’t quite get back into history. The soft, moist elephantine prehistoric has sort of swamped in over my known world – and one drifts. no more of my tirades- the sea seems so big – and the world of elephants and buffaloes seems such a vast twilight – and by sheer or mere proximity with the dark Singhalese one feels the vastness of the bloodstream, so dark and hot and from so far off. What does life in particular matter? Why should one care? Yet I don’t believe in Buddha….. We are going to Australia – Heaven knows why: be-cause it will be cooler, and the sea is wide. Ceylon steams heat and it isn’t so much the heat as the

chemical decomposition of one’s blood by the ultra-violet rays of the sun. Don’t know what we’ll do in Aus-tralia – don’t care…..” From “Elephant” – “…best is the Perahera, at midnight, under the tropical stars With a pale little wisp of a Prince of Wales, diffident, up in a small pagoda on the temple side. And white people in evening dress buzz-ing and crowding the stand upon the grass below and opposite: And at last the Perahera procession, flambeaux aloft in the tropical night, of blazing cocoa-nut, Naked dark men beneath, And the huge frontal of three great elephants stepping forth to the tom-tom’s beat,in the torch-light, Slowly sailing in glorious apparel through the flame-light…..” And so the Lawrences bade fare-well to “Ardnaree” and Ceylon. Lawrence’s first letter to Curtis Brown, dated 25 May, from Darlington, West Australia already signals disillu-sionment - “It’s queer here: wonderful sky and sun and air – new and clean and untouched - and endless hoary “bush” with no people – all feels strange and empty and unready. I suppose it will have its day, this place. But its day won’t be our day. One feels like the errant dead, or as the as- yet- unborn. And there is a queer pre-primeval ghost over everything….” It was, therefore, inevitable that in a few short weeks the Lawrences moved on again from West Australia to Thirroul N.S.W from where he wrote,in characteristically acid mode,to Mrs. A.L. Jenkins on 28 May - “Well we are in a little house to ourselves on the edge of the cliff some 40 miles south of Sydney. It’s a weird place – with coal mines near. I believe I wished I stayed in Dar-lington. In fact I am sure I do. Australia goes from bad to worse in my eyes. Sydney and the harbor are quite one of the sights of the world.. But the quality of life is absolutely too much, or too little for me. Talk about crude, raw and self-satisfied……. I’m sure every Australian…seems silently to proclaim “There’s nothing better than me on earth”…..and not always silently. I’ve got a bitter burn-ing nostalgia for Europe, for Sicily, for old civilization and for real human understanding….God, how I hate new countries…” Sadly disillusioned that tranquility had eluded him in both Ceylon and Australia, Lawrence sailed away from Australia in July 1922 – voyaging onwards, ever hopeful -- “If only, most lovely of all, I yield myself and am borrowed By the fine, fine wind that takes its course through the chaos of the world” [DHL]

Mr. Tissa Devendra, an old Rajan, was the chairman of the Public Service Commission, the National Council for Ad-ministration (NCA) and an acclaimed author. He is a patron of Colombo Dharmaraja OBA.

24

I was requested by my nephew Anil Ellepola to write this article as I am privy to information of the early pe-riods, although not a Rajan myself. I am an octogena-rian living in retirement at Pannipitiya, Sri Lanka. Thus I have heard from my elders, some of which are their past reminiscences. My beloved father Loku Banda Ellepola was an Old Rajan (1897 -1902). He attended College having taken lodging at Gangaramaya Raja Maha Viharaya. Born on 2nd May 1885, and after his primary education at Palapathwela School, he entered Dharmaraja. His principals were Mr,H. Banbury and Mr. C.S. Rajarat-nam. He did well as a cadet in Dharmaraja. Father spoke very highly of his principals specially Mr. C.S. Rajaratnam who was a good disciplinarian and an excellent teacher. T.B.Ellepola, a “Rate Mahaththaya” was my Mother's maternal uncle. He left Dharmaraja probably after matriculation. Later he passed the Calcutta University entrance examination. My maternal uncle S.J.B Dharmakeerti, attorney- at- law born in 1900, was once a brilliant student of Dhar-maraja where he passed the London Matriculation with honors. Right through his College career he took a keen interest in all extra-curricular activities, showing himself well in Scouting, drama and religious affairs of the college. He joined and left school during Principal Billimoria's tenure of office.

It was when Ven. Anagarika Dharmapala addressed the Rajans that he was so impressed and took a great interest in Buddhism. Ven. Dharmapala's sobriety in speech, and his lovable, gentle and pleasing words it is said brought tears in the eyes of his listeners. Mr. S.J.B. Dharmakeerti further goes down his memory lane. On a later date Ven Dharmapala addressed a large gathering of town-folk near the Maligawa. Here he was a different man well suited to the adults of his time. He was vociferous, forceful and almost spelt a vengeance against the Anglo imperialists and their followers. Mr.Dharmakeerti realized, being astonished

listening to the speaker, how oratory could change people's hearts even to rise in mutiny for a just cause.

Mr. Dharmakeerti watched a demonstration - a pro-test march against his principal Mr. Billimoria at Matale by a few teachers and some members of the B.T.S. (Buddhist Theosophical Society). He was furious but was helpless. The cry was that Mr. Billimoria was a fire worshipper and a non Buddhist, and that he should be removed. It was very unfortunate that a handful of non-conformists, forget the yeomen services Mr. Billi-moria was rendering to Dharmaraja. However their protest went unheard. Their objective was never achieved.

JAYA ! JAYA ! DHARMARAJA !

Reminiscences of Dharmaraja heard from my elders By P.B. Ellepola

King’s Flag winners featuring Mr SJB Dharmakeerthi.

Mr Rajaratnam, Mr Banbury and Mr Billimoria.

The cry was that Mr. Billimoria was a fire worshipper and a non Buddhist,

and that he should be removed. It was very unfortunate that a handful of

non-conformists, forget the yeomen services Mr. Billimoria was rendering to

Dharmaraja..

Though not a Rajan himself, Mr P.B. Ellepola is a true friend to many Rajans. Having had close family links with several Rajans who belong to the very early periods of Dharmara-ja he is in possession of some invaluable stories. DAANA greatly appreciates his generosity in sharing some of them with us in this article.

25

When I was asked to write an article for DAANA mag-azine many thoughts crossed my mind. The very first were those unforgettable thirteen years that I spent at Dharmaraja from 1987 to 2000. As I look back now those precious years have laid the foundation to all our achievements unto reaching these positions. I can never forget those teachers, principals, fellow stu-dents, buildings and the things we did at that time. Whenever I visit Sri Lanka I always visit Dharmaraja primary section which was at the Natha Devala pre-mises. I feel very relaxed, calm and at peace within myself at such times. Now the only building remaining there is the K.F. Billimoria Memorial Hall. Last summer, when I went there I happened to pay more attention to the opening plaque of the Billimoria Memorial Hall. It was as follows.

This Building For The DHARMARAJA COLLEGE

Stands on the site of the old one which was put up In 1887 and demolished in April 1914 for want of Ac-

commodation. Erected with the loyal cooperation of the present and

past pupils of the College. In the time of

K.F. BILLIMORIA B.A., PRINCIPAL. 5th December 1914.

This stirred within me the desire to search more about the Golden Era of Dharmaraja which was during the Mr. K.F. Billimoria’s time from 1902 to 1932. Although the information about this period is very limited, I have found some valuable information from the Dharmara-ja Golden Jubilee Souvenir, Wikipedia, and articles written by Mr. Palitha Jayasekera and Mr. T.W. de S. Amarasekera.

From the day that Dharmaraja College (then known as Kandy Buddhist High School) was founded by the Ceylon Theosophical society, there have always been headmasters loyal and steadfast to serve her with the utmost commitment and devotion. The honor of being the first among them goes to Mr. Andiris de Silva who began his duties on 30th June 1887. He was able to raise the attendance from 12 to 50 and also get the help of two assistants, Mr. William de Silva and Mr. W.A Gunaratne. Thus with humble steps began the saga of our Alma Mater. The next headmaster was Mr. D.B. Jayatilaka (1890) in whose time the school was regis-tered for grant and the work of the boys at the first annual inspection was very favorably reported upon. Mr. Banbury (1897), a certified teacher from the New York training College was the third in the line. It is in his time that the name was changed from Kandy Buddhist High School into Dharmaraja College. Mr. Wilton Hack (1899), appointed after Mr. Banbury was

also a member of the Ceylon Theosophical society who devoted a great deal of his time to raise funds for the school. It was Mr. C.S. Rajaratnam (1899) the fol-lowing headmaster, a well-known advocate of Kandy who brought back the academic standard of the school to a sound condition. Thus, five head masters preceded the time of service of Mr. K. F. Billimoria.

The golden age at Dharmaraja dawned with the ap-pointment of K.F. Billimoria as principal in 1902. He is a Parsee gentleman from Bombay with roots in Iran. When he once chanced to visit Sri Lanka, he was per-suaded by D.B. Jayathilake to fill in the post of prin-cipal at our college. His prime motive was to mould Dharmaraja into a powerful institution which could compete unfalteringly side by side with other Missio-nary schools at that era. He was wise in his recruitment of educators committed as he was in uplifting the standards of Dharmaraja. He also resolved to fulfill the need of improving the physical resources to balance the accomplishments in the academic field. Small collections were made by the boys who got five cents from people by punching a hole in a card. This money was put into good use by constructing a magnificent building with a hall in which many significant events were held after many years. This two storey building was completed in the year 1915 within the Kandy city and was later named after the great man, in his hon-or, Billimoria. The year 1922 marks a special event as sufficient funds were raised to procure the ‘Lake View Estate’, a 37-acre (150,000 m2) land overlooking the Kandy Lake with a large bungalow built in accor-dance to the Dutch architectural fashion. He planned infrastructure for a new Dharmaraja with many new buildings to accommodate the collegiate section. A

The Golden Era of Dharmaraja College By Sanjeewa Gamagedara

26

swimming pool, electricity to the complex, hostel facili-ties, and a play ground were also planned.

The material structure of the school was improved to a great extent during Billimoria’s time in office. The ac-tual hostel began at the Principal’s quarters in 1921. He built the A and B wings of the College Hostel in 1923. The Swimming Bath (as it was called then) was also constructed under his guidance, as referred to in a "speech day" presentation in 1929. Later, a kids’ pool was built for more convenience. Water from a spring was taken for use in the pool with the help of an au-tomatic pumping device. The construction of the playground was done pri-marily by the school boys who cut and removed the earth in trolleys on rails pro-vided by the headmaster himself. He would have started on his plans to build a science laboratory if it had not been for the request put forward for him to retire.

In due course the school had reached a relatively better standard with sever-al students passing the Cambridge Senior (Local) examination. To further heighten the glory of Dharmaraja they were able to join the clerical service through a competitive examination. Due to the broadmindedness and moderate education he pro-vided, three old boys entered the first State Council. Among them were A. Rathnayake who became a Senator and then an illustrious President of the Senate, A.E. Gunasinghe who became the first labour leader of the country and William Gopallawa the first Gover-nor - General.

His immense encouragement for sports demonstrates his perfect awareness of the fact that academic dis-ciplines alone do not create a complete man. The Cricket Big-Match between Dharmaraja and Kingswood Colleges was first started in his time. As for the other extra-curricular activities, the College Scout Group began in 1914, under the patronage of Billimo-ria. It was not before long that The Scout troop won the much sought after King's Flag thrice in succession, proving all benefits granted worthwhile. On the part of arts, several Sinhalese plays on the style of the plays of John de Silva and Charles Dias were staged in the outstations which served the dual purpose of giving the actors a chance to exhibit their talents and at-tracting the desired funds for the school. He was also keen on improving the literary standards of the stu-dents. A weekly paper called the 'Telescope' was

published under his instructions by the senior boys. As a lover of music he got the able teachers on that field of the staff to train the junior students to sing at the piano. Being fond of music he got teachers on the staff who could train the junior school boys to sing at the piano. Above all these blessings, he bestowed upon the school, his focus on teaching of the Dham-ma in school ought to be the most valuable of all. In person too he set the finest example to the boys dis-playing true qualities of a leader. His attire was spotless and flawless, his work methodical and his concern was on honesty and punctuality apart from his strict adhe-

rence to discipline. Several world renowned figures visited Dharmaraja during his office, includ-ing Mahatma Gand-hi, Lord Baden Pow-ell and D. H. Lawrence.

A retired teacher Mr. N. E. Weerasooriya in his me-moirs on Dharmaraja re-calls that the most distin-guishing feature of this school was the perfect harmony that existed be-tween the principal, the staff and the pupils and their united effort to bring the college to the forefront among other educational institutions. To quote some of his words, “And success was in a measure ours. Our

scholars made good at the examination; our amateur dramatists toured the island; our scouts won the King’s Flag. Dharmaraja College was getting talked about…”

Mr. Billimoria served for thirty years as principal and he was made to retire in 1932. According to my view, all past, present and future students of Dharmaraja must be thankful to this greatest principal that we have ever had. The Dharmaraja Golden Jubilee Souvenir describes him in the words of the English poet Lionel Johnson,

“All that he came to give He gave and went again I have seen one man live

I have seen one man reign With all the graces in his train.”

A retired teacher Mr. N. E. Weerasooriya in his memoirs

on Dharmaraja recalls, “… And success was in a

measure ours. Our scholars made good at the examina-tion; our amateur dramatists toured the island; our scouts

won the King’s Flag. Dharma-raja College was getting

talked about…”

Sanjeewa Gamagedara attended Dharmaraja from 1987 to 2000. He received his BSc degree in Chemistry from the University of Peradeniya and is pursuing a PhD at Missouri University of Science & Technology, Missouri, USA.

27

A few weeks ago the Dharmaraja Old Boys of Colom-bo, at their Annual General Meeting, honored Maya as their distinguished First Old Girl. At the gathering, she paid a moving tribute to her parents, great pio-neers of Buddhist education, P de S. and Hilda Kula-ratne. Way back in 1932, Dharmaraja College in Kandy had struck a bad patch, with declining academic stan-dards and consequent fall in student numbers. The school that Olcott had founded in 1887 for Buddhist students was in danger. The Buddhist Theosophical Society (BTS) which managed it, decided on drastic action. Principal Kularatne, the live-wire who had transformed Ananda into the jewel in the crown of Buddhist education in Ceylon, was assigned to Dhar-maraja in Kandy to revive its failing fortunes. Inspired by the challenge, and dedicated as he was to Budd-hist education, Kularatne moved with his family to Kandy in 1932. His wife Mrs. Hilda Kularatne (nee Westbrook) a dedicated young Buddhist Englishwo-man, had been the Founder Principal of Ananda Bali-ka in Colombo and soon went on to become Founder Principal of Mahamaya and Pushpadana in Kandy (and later Maliyadeva Balika in Kurunegala) a truly incredible achievement that can never be equaled! Their children were Ananda (Andy), Parakrama (Malli) and Maya (Nangi). Their home for the next five years was in the Principal’s Bungalow "Ardnaree" up on Dharmaraja Hill with a glorious view of the Kandy Lake. I wonder whether they knew at the time that the writer D.H. Lawrence

had lived there briefly, ten years earlier. It was a wonderful sprawling house with a magical garden for children. Kularatne lost no time in enrolling his children in his school. Ananda and Parakrama were old enough to walk down to Dharmaraja, then located in Palace Square on the land (within) adjoin-ing the ‘seema’ of the hospitable Natha Devale. There was a Junior School on the Hill for hostellers too young for the trudge to the town school. It was here that Maya went to school – thus becoming the very first girl to study at Dharmaraja. Kularatne firmly believed that a sprinkling of girls would have a civilizing effect on schoolboys’ natural tendency to horse-play and rude behavior. Some teachers too followed his example. Ever the visionary, Kularatne also conceived the idea of settling two Buddhist nuns, an Englishwoman Miss Robinson (later Sister Vajira) and the American Sister Dhammadinna in two secluded cottages on the hill. They occasionally related the Buddha Charita and Jataka Tales to the young students. When Kularatne returned to his beloved Ananda he left behind a Dharmaraja transformed into a leading school once more, set on the path to academic excellence and sporting prowess. Maya, the first Rajan school-girl, went back to Ananda with him, to the great regret of her Rajan classmates. She went on to graduate from our University where she met, and later married, Stanley Senanayake (Inspec-tor General of Police).

The link between my parents was the urge "To make a difference". Coming from totally different countries and backgrounds, it was their destiny to come to-gether in Sri Lanka in 1919. The difference they made was to raise the standards of education of boys and girls in many schools in Sri Lanka. They both had excellent educational qualifications - my mother, Hilda Muriel Westbrook, with an M.A. from Newnham College, Cambridge, England, and my father, Patrick de Silva Kularatne who, on a scholar-ship from Sri Lanka, achieved success in London gain-ing three degrees, B.A., B.Sc. and L.LB, in the space of 3 years.

Their meeting and marriage in Colombo is reminiscent of romantic novels. My mother became a Buddhist though I was told that my father refused to influence her and she studied with other teachers. Within a year, they were married on the 11th of December, 1919. Though Sir D.B. Jayatillake appointed her, on her arriv-al, as Principal of Buddhist Girls' School, later named Visakha Vidyalaya, she could not stay there long. The British Govt. of the time, had strict rules regarding mar-ried women teaching and did not permit her to con-tinue in that post. It was inevitable that she should join my father at Ananda College as a true helpmate, first as founding

Dharmaraja's First (Pioneer) Girl Student: Maya Senanayake By Tissa Devendra

To Make a Difference My Life with My Family at Dharmaraja in 1932-35 Maya Senanayake’s tribute to her parents and Dharmaraja on 27th January 2008

28

Ananda Balika Vidyalaya and becoming its first Prin-cipal, in response to the representations made by the parents of sisters of Ananda College students. She later took over Sri Sumangala Girls' School, Pana-dura as the first principal. Later, she was the choice of the founders of Mahamaya Girls College in Kandy to be the first Principal in 1932. My mother had also participated in the founding of Mahamaya College, when she accompanied my father on many occasions to help the Kulangana Samithiya in Kandy. When she accepted the post of Principal she agreed to reside in the school Hostel in West Cliffe House which became both Hostel and School. My brother Parakrama and I were the first pupils to be admitted to the school, and we lived there with her and though I was only 6 years old at the time, I still re-member many details of our happy life there. Sometimes she would accompa-ny the director of the school to visit Buddhist parents to persuade them to send their daughters to the new Buddhist school. She always wore saree and took part in all their religious activities. She sat on the mats and listened to Dhamma discourses. I believe that it was her idea to make the half-saree the school uniform. It is my recollection that we moved to Dharmaraja as a family when my father took up the task of being Principal to develop the school in 1932. At that time the lives of my brothers and myself and numerous cousins went through a complete change. It is during this period that we children had the oppor-tunity of living in a beautiful environment in what I feel was the most beautiful house in Sri Lanka, "Lake View". My parents were now working together at the same school, Dharmaraja College, and it is here that they achieved their intention to "Make a difference." My mother and father taught as only they could, with understanding and tremendous care of their pupils. I was one of them. We had many caring and dedicated, teachers at Dharmaraja. I remember Mr. Tom Fernando, Miss Karu Gunaratne, and Miss Letty Boteju as some of them. My father was really a dynamo when he got going. His duty was to raise the standards of Dharmaraja as a school, and he did just that. He started with new class-

rooms, and the Hostel, and a swimming pool of limited dimensions. We children didn't care. We ran through the undergrowth with the occasional leech clinging to our legs. Trained as were by our numerous Hikkaduwa and Ambalangoda cousins, we swam like fish. The lack of a playing ground irked my father -" a healthy mind in a healthy body" was his motto. How-

ever, I can't remember him playing games with us except Rummy and Spelling Bees But once he had made up his mind that the boys at Dhar-maraja needed to play cricket and football he went at it with great vigour. The playing ground was carved out of the hill, and from Lake View bungalow where our family lived, one could see the playground, and, in the distance, the city of Kanda-uda-rata with its famous lake. A tennis court was also carved out of the hillside with the help of elephants who pushed the rollers up and down. In fact, one elephant who got tired of the monoto-ny took the roller to the edge of the land and deliberately

pushed it down the hill in triumph! Needless to say she regretted her bravado as the mahout made her go all the way down the road and pull it up again. The boys lived up to his ambitions and encourage-ment and soon excelled at games and, of course at Cadeting and(of course) Cricket. To add a personal note, I would like to tell you that my son, Saliya, recalls playing cricket for Ananda at this playground when he was the Captain of the Ananda Team in later years. That would have made my father proud as he was a fervent supporter then, and later, when we took him to watch all the Cricket matches between Ananda and Nalanda, Of course, Nalanda College was his creation and his favours wavered from team to team. He was most happy when the match ending a draw, though both his elder grand-sons, Sanjiva and Saliya, captained the Anandian team. When I saw the newpaper article in the Daily Mirror of January 10, 2008, and I learnt of the great efforts of the Dharmaraja College Past Cadets' Union have made to erect a mausoleum "to commemorate their heroes of the war who have paid the supreme sacri-fice in the service of the country", the tears came to my eyes.

P. de S. Kularatne, Principal (1932-36)

29

Fl. Lieutenant A.F. Kularatne, whom you have ho-noured, was my elder brother. He died in a bombing raid over Germany in January, 1944, but he went to England because he felt he had to do his bit in the War which affected us all.

He left his wife, Holly and unborn son, Simon Kularatne, who is now a grandfather, living in England. I would like to thank you for giving me this opportunity to meet you all and I wish The Dharmaraja College Past Cadets' Union all success.

Like most Rajans, we in Form II were not so good at handling this alien language called English, intro-duced by the British. If the French imperialists con-quered this country, we would have been speaking French today. In those days in College, there was this practice of sending the Prefects to classes when on some days, teachers were absent. They generally did something or the other on the subject, to keep the boys occu-pied. We, in the lower forms, were rather scared of the Prefects. One day, a Prefect came to our class when our Eng-lish teacher, Miss Sally, was absent. We told him that we had English in that period. Like a typical Rajan, he too was not very sure of his English to do an English lesson in a class. So we thought we could have a free period as long as we made no big noise. But being a “never say die” Rajan, he said “ OK. Each of you will make a sentence each in English”, - so that his English did not come to be displayed! (All this conversation was in Sinhala, that too, for our benefit!). We were thunder stuck! Some started sweating. The Prefect sensed our despair. So, in order to spend away the 45 minutes, he made a deal. He said, “OK. I will give you 10 minutes to prepare” and he went out of the class. Then he had only 35 more minutes to spend in the class! So we, like all good Rajans, discussed as a group, how to meet this challenge. But there was no solution. Some of the sentences we tried to make were hila-riously wrong. At last, someone said, “I have a solution. Everybody looked at him as if he was our saviour. He said, “I will start. The rest of you can just follow the pattern. You will not make a mistake.” We thought he was very bold. The Class Monitor, Sumanatillake ( Hawa) went out an informed the Prefect that the boys were ready. And in came he to the class and said, “OK. chaps. Let us start” The first boy was a hosteller. He was from Kekirawa. He got up and said. “I aM Kulatunge. The next boy

looked at another boy and asked: U Ratnayake? (U. Ratnayake later joined the Railway Clerical Service, after leaving school). The boy next to Ratnayake said, V. Manoharan. (We had 5 Tamil boys in our class.) The next boy got up, pointed at another and said: I. C. Thadani. (That was a boxer from Kandy Silk Stores, Trin-comalee Street where I recall, they displayed every year, a ‘Sal Uyana” during Wesak. The Thadanis of this shop were perhaps the first to donate body covers to some elephants, that walked in the Esala Perahera). The next boy said, U. C. de Silva. (That was our Cadet Master – a tall man, with sharp blue eyes. We were scared of him.).The next one inquiringly looked around and asked: “ C Niyarepola? Everyone laughed. Niyare used to cut classes occasionally. He was not in class that day too! He later went to Cadet Camp with us both at Boossa and later Diyatalawa. Then, someone said “But V. C. Gunatilleke? Goonatillke smiled mod-estly. He was a boy from Gampaha who later played Hockey for College and also became a Queen’s Scout too. So it went on like this. And then, there was this Chinese boy. He had nothing to say! He got up and smiled showing all his 32 teeth and declared Lee Shee Shaang! And then mercifully, both for us and the Prefect, the school bell rang.

Learning English at Dharmaraja in the 50s (A half truth) By Gamini Gunawardane

Gamini Gunawardane attended at Dharmaraja from 1948-1957. He is the first Rajan to become the senior Deputy In-spector General of Police. He received his BA degree from the University of Peradeniya and he is the first Sri Lankan to receive a Masters in Public Administration (MPA) from Ken-nedy School of Government at Harvard University, USA. He is a prolific writer who regularly contributes to leading local newspapers.

30

This story happened in the Mid Fifties, over fifty years ago, but strangely, is still fresh in memory. So it has to be told before it is lost! Around 1957 or so, when we were in the University En-trance class first year, a jolly time in life, with no exam at the end of the year, we were always looking for fun. Cutting school and going for the matinee shows at the cinemas at every change of films was normal. Of course, the gallery was our favorite place, costing just 60cts.Who cares? Our class then occupied a cadjan hut that was built in the open space between the Metthananda Block and the steps leading up to the Milton Senanayake building. It was called the ‘Hall of Liberty’. So called because that is where the UE First Years were housed, as there was nowhere else to accommodate them and the occupants were so carefree and nobody really bothered. There were no rules to govern the inmates. Hence the name ‘Liberty’. And we had a vale of a time, suddenly breaking into music, the drum set being the desks. The singing will stop abruptly no sooner than the ‘Bossa’ was spotted by the lead drummer, leaving his office, as the lead drummer sat slap bang facing the corridor. That was roughly the scenario. At that time, it was customary that at the end of Uni-versity Final Exam, the grandaunts who passed out, came to take up the teaching appointments until they were picked up for the Civil Service, the Overseas’ Service or for other executive jobs in the Government, or in the private sector. We used to admire these sty-lish men, as the fresh output form the U. In that year’s batch, there were two young lady graduants too, much to our delight. One was Miss Sudasinghe, pitch dark in complexion. Later we learnt that on the cam-pus, she was known as ‘Miss Paradox’. Nonetheless, she was a nice teacher. She was from Pannipitiya. So once she entertained us to dinner in her house when we went to Pannipitya play cricket with Dharmapala Vidyalaya that year. The other was Miss Indrani Senevi-ratne, beautiful young woman, with a sweet smile spreading on her face all the time but not any further. She was kind and nice, all the time. But, thus far and no further. Disappointed, but we grew very fond of her slowly. No one cut her classes. We were admiring her beauty. But were reluctant to co-operate, whenever she tried teach us something in class! She was sup-posed to prepare us for what was called the ‘General Paper’ which was in fact, a very interesting subject because, it concerned current affairs. However, we were not ready to study because until the GCE ‘O’ Level results came in March, we did not know whether we would continue in the UE class or will be con-

demned to repeat the exam if not enough ‘credits’ were earned. So the first term was all fun. Now, our challenge was to make her laugh, because she never did, more than showing her restrained smil-ing countenance. We took bets to get her to laugh. But all our attempts failed. The science students were more crude. One day, they came to her class wearing different colored shoes, exchanged among each other, wearing wrong foot. Yet no luck. Another day, when she asked the boys to wipe the black board, they brought the broom and wiped the board. Didn’t laugh. On yet another day, a boy came to her class, wearing on his head, a waste paper basket. There was an uproar! She pretended not to see it. We wondered how she managed hide her laughter. It was a mystery. Anyway, she did not complain either. So we liked her. Enjoyed her classes. She eventually got us to do some work too. But the younger boys in the ‘O’ level classes could get no opportunity to have fun with her. They could only admire her from far. They may have been even ‘J’ with us seniors, too. But they could do nothing. Sour grapes. Miss Seneviratne had a very nice gait. Dressed in a lovely Osariya, She always walked slowly taking her time, swinging from side to side with her silver hawa-diya too swinging from her waste. It was much like Sunil Shantha’s song on the lady teacher, that was very popular then:

“Mihikatha nalawala, - maga mal ganwala, pasala wetha yana me, - gurudev -liya – sera-de”

The crude Fifth Form commerce students new no such aesthetic niceties. One of those blokes admiring her rhythmic walk once chanted;

“Shalabalang, shalabalang ! Shalabalang, shalabalang !!”

And that was it. Whenever they saw her walking past thereafter, they kept the rhythm,

“Shalabalang, shalabalang ! Shalabalang, shalabalang !”

That was perfect ! It became her nick name too. P.S.: Most of the actors in this ‘drama’ are still living. Many of them, are active members of the OBU in Kandy or Colombo. Miss Seneviratne passed away quite some time ago.

Shala balang! By Gamini Gunawardane

31

The germ of writing an article was planted on me by fellow Rajan DAANA member Sarith who sent me an email prompting me to contribute to the upcoming magazine. I was not sure what I should write and where to begin, I did not want to write about the histo-ry of a great world institution as I am not qualified to do so, but thought it should be light- hearted banter, nevertheless dwelling into the glorious history as well. Then I got another mail prompting me to write my memories of the hostel! I was admitted as a year one student to this hallowed institution in January 1963 and the primary section was then located at the Natha Devale premises, where Wadugodapitiya Punchikorale cut a Bo tree and con-structed the first class room in 1887. I am ever grateful to my late father T.B. Ellepola for giving me the oppor-tunity of a well grounded education in this great school of all-more so as a hosteller. My father has been a hosteller too like me and been in college from 1932 to 1937, representing school in cricket, soccer, cadetting debating etc. My grandfa-ther too is a Rajan and his name "L.B. Ellepola" ap-pears in the 1937 jubilee magazine in the list of first old boys among (along with) my grand uncle S.J.B. Dharmakirti who prac-ticed law in Matale up to nearly his death at the age of 99 in 1999 who has been a member of the scout troop that won the Kings Flag in 1919 as we had the largest number of Kings Scouts around the world. Sri Lanka's for-mer Governor General and non Executive Presi-dent Hon. William Gopallawa also has been a mem-ber of this scout troop. This was Billimoria days. When my farther joined school the principal has been Mr. Billimoria and Lake View had not been bought. The hostel has been located at the present Kandy Nursing home premises in Buwalikade. It was the far-sightedness of Principal Billimoria that today we have the "Lake View", such an expansive land mass no school in Sri Lanka can boast of -not even in the world I guess! My father used to relate how the land was on a mortgage and they collected money in cards where a square was one cent and struggled to pay the loan. After Lake View was bought the hostel has been moved to the present Principal's bungalow but school remained at Natha Devale premises. Around this time Principal Billimoria had left after serving a very long period and the legendary P. de. S. Kularatne

came over from Ananda with a mission to develop the Buddhist School of the Hill Country. The rest is histo-ry and Principal Kularatne within a very short period had paid the mortgage, built the class rooms, hostel buildings, playground etc. My father’s contemporaries were, S.K.B. and C.B. Warakaulle, T.B. Thalwatte, O.E. De Silva (later our science teacher), P.B. Maillewa etc. The ground boy has been Gopal who continued to work during my days and passed away around 1974 and his son Sumith took over. Gopal used to relate how he came from India at a very young age swim-ming across the palk strait! Gopal served our alma mater for around 40 years. I will not talk about the history anymore but will start about writing my memories of the hostel. I joined the hostel in 1966 after being a day scholar for 3 years as in those days getting admission was ex-tremely difficult! When I joined the "C" dormitory the matron was Mrs. Seetha Mohottigedara who had a great influence in desciplining (disciplining) our lives. The other dormitories were - Suramya, B,A and upper. I remember Padmasiri Manamperi, Saliya Madawala, Prassanne Karunatileke, Pradeep Ikiriwatte, Dammika

Dissanayake, L.C. Mettanan-da, Piyal Tennekoon etc. who were with us from 1966. I re-member the small boys aged just 5 years old crying of home sick after the parents have left but it lasted only for a few hours – among them I recall Seevali Abeyratne from Mawanelle the present sec-retary of the hostellers asso-ciation. Then later on, there was my good friend Hema-keerti now in Australia, fam-

ous Pujitha Jayasundera and our DAANA members. Gamini Atigale, Susantha Herath, Chandraratne Ban-dara etc. I have no space to mention all names. Each student had a trunk to keep the clothes and during early days we never wore rubber slippers but used clogs (made out of wood). Each of us also had a bucket kept under our beds. Each dormitory also had separate dressing rooms. The warden was the great B.A.S. Wimalachandra who retired in 1967 after serving for over 30 years. Thereaf-ter, several Wardens came and went namely M/S Thi-lak Jayasinghe, K.N.S.Jayatunga, Lional Kotandeniya. D. Wanasinghe, Weragama etc. and we witnessed good and not so good times, the golden era being the Wimalachandra regime.

Memories of the Hostel By Anil Ellepola

The Cricket XI - 1937

32

We grew up in a totally different atmosphere to the days scholars cutoff from the rest of the world in a 37 acre land. When we were in the primary section we used to go walking down to Buwalikade with masters Wimalachandra and Welagedara where a special bus would take us to school and back. During our walk up and down we used to meet senior boys on their way to or from upper school and we were called the "badagini hamudawa" by them, apparently a refer-ence that we were hungry! But we were well fed, never hungry and a happy lot! After climbing the hill at noon we used to have lunch and then a bell rings which was called the "resting bell" and all have to be in there their beds until the next bell which was for tea where we got something to eat like a bun, a sponge cake, or a patty and a cup of tea. Then we run to the grounds for playing until the next bell for us to come back and take wash/bath and go for studies. Then we had dinner and went to sleep after reciting of Gathas. The wake up bell was at 5AM where we all take our soap tooth-paste etc and run to wash rooms, followed by studies, breakfast and going to school. Weekends had a

slightly different timetable where we slept a little long-er, but some days we were sent for early morning baths at the several wells/tanks in the lake view estate shivering in cold! So I had no difficulty in getting used to the Ottawa winter! Saturday night was special as we had the weekly lite-rary meetings where hostellers got an opportunity to perform singing acting debating etc. Sundays we were usually taken to the Maligawa and a walk around the Kandy Lake. Last day of term was much awaited by us because we got a good dinner the day before, called by us as "one before the last day", we got chicken curry and ice cream where the principal too participated and gave an after dinner speech. This was followed by the hostel night. I have nostalgic memories of DAANA member Samarajeeva, then a small kid accompanying his father the principal along with his mother and sister. There definitely existed a sub culture among hostellers and a unique jargon. The eatables brought from home were called "devale" and eating them without

sharing was "gopal gahanawa". Horlicks or Nestomolt was called "dum" etc. We used to get dhal - parippu for almost every meal and a ‘malluma’ too - the mal-luma was called "mana kola malluma". Mana as we all know was found in plenty in the mana kelle! And there were lot more, certain things that cannot be written for reasons known only to hostellers!! The employees of the hostel were so special that they looked after the place like their own. Jamis the Manager, Arthur, Premaratne, Victor, Ra-naweera, Banda, William etc. need special mention. They were so kind to us and had devoted their entire lives to Dharmaraja and was a rich source of Rajan history. Several generations of hostellers will remember them. We are ever grateful to them. We were even afraid to misbehave in their presence. Premaratne now retired lives close to the hostel. The park at the entrance was called Jamis Park a tank was named William Tank - named by the students! The lake view gardens were full of "Vela" and "Waraka" as well as mangoes etc. So the hostellers were very clever at making use of these fruits! We were never found guilty of consuming the produce. Plucking Kurumba had to be done on the sly and there were boys who were excellent climbers - among them my erstwhile friend Alawatura, who left this world a few years ago was a master. Sometimes it was done at night and we used to put mattresses on the ground so that when it falls there is no sound. One day the Principal Mr. Gunaratne was doing his rounds in the nights with a flash light in his hand. Alawatura affec-tionately known as Alaya was on top of a tree and Mr. Gunaratne being a Rajan knew what was going on! He held his torch to the tree and Alawatura thought it was a boy trying to help him and said "oya itthata nevei machang anikata torch eke gahapan", mean-ing I want the torch light on another bunch of young coconuts and not on this! The Principal, without utter-ing a word, went away!! A Rajan understanding a Rajan and he was thoughtful not to excite the young boy as it could have been dangerous. The Gunaratne days really brought back the lost glo-ries of Dharmaraja and after the Kula-ratne/Mettananda periods can be called the golden era which laid the foundation for today's success. Today we have an old hostellers association of which I am a member and we have completed building a new kitchen and the first stage of the sick ward.

One day the Principal Mr. Gunaratne was doing his rounds in the nights with

a flash light in his hand. He held his torch to the tree and Alawatura

thought it was a boy trying to help him and said "oya itthata nevei machang anikata torch eke gahapan". The Prin-

cipal, without uttering a word, went away!!

Anil Ellepola moved to Canada recently. He has been a member of Colombo OBA. He is a very active member of DAANA. Anil lives in Ottawa, Canada with his family.

33

I still remember the first day at the DRC hostel. That was a Sunday and we had our “Literary Society” meeting at night. On that day they started introducing new hostellers. Usually a senior hosteller introduces the new comer by asking questions about himself and then let the new comer to do a performance. That was a first time I stood in front of such a crowd. As shy as I was I just stood there like a stone. So the chairmen let me perform at the next meeting. It took 2 or 3 meetings of me chewing nails in front of the audience before I came up with a speech on hydroelectric, that was based on a section of a textbook. This whole event ended up with having a nick name of “prawur-thi” in front of my name. Every term end we had a performance night where we staged short dramas. We were successful on staging a children’s drama (“Punchi Lowen Dura Gamanak”) at Kandy Children’s library auditorium hoping to build an open air theater similar to one at the University of Peradeniya (“Wala”). These opportunities built up my confidence and helped me to become a member of hostel debating team,

chairman of several societies, an actor, as a very con-fident speaker, and a performer in front of a large crowed. I really enjoyed staying in the hostel. Even during term end vacation times, I managed to stay in the hostel for sport practices. It was like a big family. We stood up for each other and this unity is well known in the school. Because of this no one in our classes tried to confront hostellers. I still remember several funny things happened during my school days. Sometimes we sneaked out to find fruits (jack fruit, cocoa, and man-goes), young coconuts etc in the school garden dur-ing the play time. I learned how to ripen a of jack fruit by twisting on the stem, One time a group of hostellers got caught on picking young coconuts and ended up having drink them all till they vomit. The hostel life was such a fun time filled with adventure and lifelong experiences that made well rounded in-dividuals, which I cherish throughout my life.

When we were in the A/L class in the early 1980s, there was a saying among classmates, told tongue in cheek, “Two Rajans will fight with each other only for two things, one is for love, and the other is for food”. Here are some of my memories of food, during 14 happy years at Dharmaraja, from 1970-1983 and I am sure it will evoke similar memories in many a reader. Entering the Dhamaraja primary in 1970 from the Ma-kara Thorana near Vishnu Devale, I noticed the ice cream man with a box on a bicycle, the veralu seller and the Bombay mutai man doing brisk business. But my father had strictly forbidden me to eat these “Ka-dachoru”. Being a Public Health Inspector, he held that all uncovered food was contaminated. In the interval I had a sandwich prepared at home by mother and cordial from a plastic bottle. (Yes we had plastics then). Yet whenever we could cajole a be-nevolent aunt for 10 cents, or on the rare occasion one found a 5 cents coin fallen on the ground, it was a beeline to the tuck-shop for some bulto (a sticky toffee) or a mango sprinkled with salt and chilli. In the interval, we were given three biscuits each, through US Food Aid. The class monitor had to go to

the Head Master’s office and bring a basin full of bis-cuits. These biscuits were tasteless and we ate them only if we were very hungry. But after an afternoons play and having nothing else to eat, the same biscuit was delicious. For the students who paid money, bot-tles of chocolate milk were brought in wire mesh baskets. To dissolve the deposited chocolate powder, these bottles needed a god shake. These bottles were covered with a metal wrapper, and the hole for a straw was made with a pencil. In the after interval session, one could see fellows spinning these bottle tops, on the tips of sharpened pencils. After school, as we got down from the steps near the Natha Devale, towards Dalada Maligawa (those roads were open for vehicle traffic then), what greeted our sight was an array of Murukku and Gna-nakatha (sugar-buns). These were neatly stacked in a glass enclosure, which was mounted on 4 bicycle wheels. We called these mobile hotels as “Duwanagi-ri”. On an occasional day, I could convince my mom to buy me a Gnanakatha, which I nibbled on - all the way to our Annex at Buwelikada.

Growing up in the Hostel By Nishantha Bandara

A Rajan Food Saga By Induka Werellagama

Nishantha Bandara, PhD, studied at Dharmaraja from 1978-85. He received a BSc degree in civil engineering from the University of Moratuwa and a PhD from the University of South Florida, USA. He works as an engineer in Detroit, Michigan, USA.

34

Entering the Upper school at “Lake View” in 1975, a big new world opened for us. Having opted to do Western Music we did not have a teacher for about one month. I found myself standing outside the aes-thetics room in the slope below the Eastern end of the playgrounds during these free periods. Standing there with my friend Upali, the ripe bananas in the trees in-vited our boyish eyes. Both of us had suitcases (in which we carried our books). These two suitcases were stacked one over other. With one boy holding them, the other one could climb on it to reach the lower fruits. Having skinned the yellowing fruits inside, we learnt that it was not yet ripe, and not tasty. The upper school tuck shop was in the play ground, in the pavilion. The fare available was Spartan, to suit the

Spartan pocket of the average Rajan. “Sambol Paan” was the staple, which comprised of about ¼ of a loaf of bread, made in to a sandwich by inserting sambol. Rumour held that this sambol was produced after squeezing out the coconut juice twice in the hostel, but we could not verify this story. Price of Sambol-bread was 35 cents, and the bus fare from Buwelikada to Kandy being 10 cents those days, this equated to 3.5 days walking this distance. At the location where the present Dharmaraja primary stands, there was a tiny shop called “Joseph Kade”. They had grapefruits priced 35 cents each. My friends Rahal and Dilan often joined me to share resources and have a grapefruit after school. I often helped Dilan with maths, and when he got pocket money from his parents, we could afford to buy popsicles in Buwelikada, 3 for one rupee. There was a big Mango Tree at end of the play ground (approximate coordinates 7° 17’24”N, 80° 38’56”E). This tree gave its name to the “Ambagaha” short cut leading from the play ground, to Buwelikada, going through where the College Hall stands now. This tree was owned by the seniors in the grade 12 classes, and on one day in grade 9 we had a free period, and were in the ground with the tree all to ourselves. I also joined my friends in pelting a few sticks at the fruits, but we had to stop it as our next class (Science) was with Mr. OE Silva, in the classrooms above the Buddhist shrine. When we rushed there just in time, some of our friends had already gone and complained to him that we are pelting sticks at the mango tree. Mr. OE Silva had two canes named “Hot water” and “Cold Wa-

ter”. The Hot water was a thick cane and the other one was thin, and more painful. As we ruefully con-templated our pending beating, Mr OES decided that pelting sticks at mangoes is normal for kids, but telling stories on friends is bad. So it was our whistle blowing friends who got hot/cold water that day. In grade 10 we were in the classes below the shrine room. There was a Bilim (Averrhoa bilimbi) tree near the grade 10D class (approximate coordinates 7° 17’39”N, 80° 39’01”E). Attending the social studies class in this classroom, we also studied the progress of the Bilim fruit from flowers to tiny fruits, to pick them when they were ripe. One day we were horrified to see the seniors from grade 11/12 classes eating those fruits. Afterwards many of our classmates went to the Bilim tree, to see all fruits young and old eaten. Some of our guys were seen eating the tender leaves of Bi-lim, saying that they were tasty. When we became prefects, the prefects’ party was held in the Principal’s bungalow. As I was considered (relatively) trustworthy compared to others, I was as-signed to cut the cakes that were to be served to the teachers, without contaminating them. The head pre-fect (my classmate Vidura) locked me and the cakes in to a room, leaving me alone to cut the cakes in peace. Only then I found that there was no knife, only plates and cakes. No amount of shouts produced anyone to open the door, so the cakes for the teach-ers were cut with the set-squares of my instruments box. The ancient bus of the Kandy South Depot, which was issuing season tickets for other schools, did not come to Dharmaraja, as it could not climb the hill. As a result all the season ticket lists and money had to be taken by few of us prefects to the Depot. After reporting in the mid afternoon to the principal about achieving this responsible task, and indicating that we are hun-gry, he gave us a letter to be given to the hostel. Pro-ducing this note, we were given rice with dry fish curry in the hostel kitchen, and I still relish the memory of that meal. The annual cross country race of 1983 was memorable for me, as I was given the responsibility of supervising the recording the timing. As a senior prefect then, I had some control over the food for the athletes and officials, and ordered a massive pot of tea (about half a barrel), for the officials. We were recording the tim-ings inside the room under the cricket score board, and all the officials (all Rajans) coming in were di-rected to the pavilion for their tea. After recording the timing of the last athlete, who arrived about one hour after the first, I stepped on to the pavilion hoping for a relaxed cup of tea. What greeted me was just the empty pot, and a sticky floor. With this background, when the Principal Mr. Guna-ratne invited me for the party given by the OBU in mid 1983, for Rajans who won National level success that

…there was a saying among classmates, told tongue in cheek,

“Two Rajans will fight with each other only for two things, one is for

love, and the other is for food”.

35

year, I was happy for the recognition, but vary of shar-ing food with fellow Rajans. So I had lunch from my home, and then went for this lunch at the Kandy club. I saw no fighting but an orderly group of gentlemen

enjoying heaps of food. Coming after a recent lunch at home, I had no luck in eating Rajan food that day too - I was too full to eat anything at all!

It really is amazing. In eight years of school, we are spend over 300,000 hours in front of a blackboard, but from all the memories that remain, how few of them belong to the subjects we learned. For many of us who grew up there, Kandy is the heart of our country, and Dharmaraja, is the heart of Kandy. There are some places of magic left in the world, and most Rajans know that hidden somewhere within the buildings and walkways of our school, some form of magic really does exist. Even if you cannot place it, walking along the school grounds in the morning, the

cold and mist wrapped in the calmness of the hills, you cannot help but be aware of its presence. Perhaps it is impossible for one person’s memories to represent a school as large and vibrant as Dharmara-ja. Too many things were happening in concert to be aware of, or be a part of. The impressions we have are too small to capture the inner-workings of the different facets of our school, so while I write this, I know that no matter how I try, I will not capture Dharmaraja fully. So, I will try and relay what Dharmaraja is to me, mostly through my memory. Oh, but how much of that school I remember has changed! How much it changed when we were still attending it, and what kind of a school will future stu-dents go to in its place? What memories will they che-rish? New buildings have been erected, new fences put up. The school ground is not the one I used walk in.

I remember the assemblies we would have there at the ground, lining up class by class in the sun. We would stand for an hour or two, wishing every minute that the assembly would end. I remember the sports-meets at the ground. Up to year nine, we would have to go to the grounds and do the drills, and in later years, the march-past. Later still, in the senior years when the responsibility of our houses was thrust on student of our batch, we would attempt to make the junior students do the drills. You could always tell the do-ers apart from the cut-ers because the students who came to the practices always ended up with the darker skin tones in this time of the year. In Dharmaraja, the sport-meet is not a time for rivalry, as it is in some schools. Mainly because no-one took their houses too seriously. Actually, I knew several stu-dents who had defected over to other houses to be with friends, and the sports-meet was more of a cele-bration than competition. Of course, this was not to say that sportsmen of our college did not take their sport seriously. It goes without saying that teams like cricket and rugger had their players who devoted most of their time to the sport, and during my time at the school the weight-lifting team started to win na-tional acclaim, while the badminton team was al-ready ranked among the very best in the country. Less seriously, something that is in my memory related to the college grounds, is the excursions to the can-teen we used make, in search of little treasures like 'ice-keta' or malt cubes. Of course, this was in a time when the biggest fear you had was that someone a year or two senior would try to intimidate you out of a rupee, and twenty rupees was enough money to last you two weeks. And while on the subject of food, Ra-jans have their own culture for lunching. In the early years, everyone brought their own food, shared it with a friend or two during the interval. But as the years went by, the average number of people sharing a lunch packet grew, until year twelve when half of the class would gather around a single designated eating desk, and an opened lunch would last only a few seconds. I once timed it, and one lunch packet was over in fourteen seconds. In the senior years, people would not even wait for the interval and would eat between the period breaks, hiding the packet under

The Heart of Hearts: In Memory of Dharmaraja By Udayana Ranatunga

…until year twelve when half of the class would gather around a single

designated eating desk, and an opened lunch would last only a few

seconds. I once timed it, and one lunch packet was over in fourteen

seconds.

Induka Werellagama, PhD, is an expert in Environmental Engineering. He received his BSc degree in Civil Engineering from Perade-niya and an MSc from Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand. He obtained his PhD from Nagoya University, Japan in 1997. He is a Senior Lecturer at University of Perdeniya and currently on an assignment in New Zealand as an Environmental engineer.

36

a desk in case a teacher walked in too soon. Rice grains would fly. Actually, the interval, although only twenty minutes, seemed much longer in those days. The activities dur-ing the interval depended on the location of your classroom. The year six and seven blocks were too far away from the ground, and students played beside the corridors or the sand covered walkways leading to the different blocks. The year nine to eleven classes were perfect for playing at the grounds themselves, and by the time students were in the A-Level classes they had developed too much attitude, to be inter-ested in playing any-more. I always won-dered why the lowest grades were placed highest on the hill. Perhaps even the staff members knew that the senior stu-dent would probably get lost on the way if they were ever put into classes that far up. When you think of the school, I think it is nat-ural to remember the part that meant the most to yourself, and for me it is the last three years. Having the opportunity to be a part of many societies and clubs, I remember a lot of the things we did within these associations. The functions we organized, the meetings we had, and the physical work we did. There were some weeks (much to the chagrin of my class teacher who was convinced that I was going to fail A-Levels) where I spent only a few hours inside the classroom. How involved we were in those little worlds! Whether it was the Science Society, Interact, Buddhist Students Society, Computer Club, drama group or debating team..., there was always something far too important that aca-demic work would just take a second-ary role. Looking back I realize how bad I was at man-aging my time and prioritizing, but I still remember those experiences with fondness. Every club had a core of students who gave it their all, and let nothing come in their way. I know this to be true of clubs that I

had no part in, the Drug Prevention Unit, the 'Kala Sangama', Dancing and Music groups and the most dedicated of them all were the three groups - the Scouts, the Eastern Band, and the Western Band. The academic careers of many students who were in-volved in these groups would have been brighter, if they had sacrificed their loyalty to their group. But no-one can question the discipline and honor they gained and the strength of the character of those who belonged to these groups cannot be measured using an academic yard stick.

Most of my memories I have of Dharmaraja are from being part of the board of prefects. I feel that this was one of greatest honors of my life. Maybe from an out-siders view, the prefect-ship is just a lot of pomp about nothing. And, just like in any group there were a portion of pre-fects on the board who did not deserve to be there. But the majority did, and had to put as much time and energy into prefectship as any other activity at school. But there was so much

training we got from those experiences. The first three months on duty were physically and mentally some of the hardest I have ever faced, but out of those times emerged a core of brothers who took responsibility of the everyday running of the school. I don't know how, but the magic of Dharmaraja does something to mold

you and if you properly carry out prefectship duty you learn two things: how to think quickly when out of your familiar surround-ings, and how to never, never be afraid of ad-versity. Lastly, I remember the teachers. We can talk about the buildings and the students, and the clubs, and the fun... but the further I go in life the more as-tounded I am at the education we re-ceived from our school.

The worst teacher I had in Dharmaraja was medio-cre... the best was illuminating. Some teachers taught using fear, some taught using passion, others just taught with pure love for their students. And years later when you meet them as an alumni, you are com-

37

pletely unprepared for the friendliness they show. Some teachers who you thought did not even re-member you will stop teaching to come and inquire how you are. It is truly a rewarding experience to see pride in their eyes. Those who still teach there, those who have retired, and those who passed away while still at school, like Mr. Dole and Mr. Kulatunga…, all of them have earned a place of respect and love in my mind. I entered Dharmaraja in year seven. Students who had gone to the primary already knew each other, but because so many Rajans entered through the year five scholarship exam, many of them were new. At this age children were receptive to friendships, and the friends I made in those first years are still the best friends I have, even today. In year seven, I remember meeting an old Rajan who very passionately told me what it was to be a Rajan. He said 'You can only be a Rajan if ......' and I forgot everything he said. In fact, throughout the years, many people have said that to be a Rajan you need to be this, or to be a Rajan you need to be that.... but I can't remember any of them.

Perhaps because, if there is one thing that makes Dharmaraja what it is, it is perhaps the diversity of the Rajans. Dharmaraja is a complete cross section of the society; from crooks to monks, the boys who will grow up to be them. Of wealthy people, of people from family struggling to make ends meet. Of people who are aggressive and violent to people who are passive and unobtrusive. It was the living and learning within this group of misfits, that gave us the qualification to be called a Rajan. Between the thousands of lines of text and writing, of equations and words, chanting and poems, of maps and watercolor, those of us who have had the privi-lege to spend our childhood at the heart of hearts have one thing in common - the knowledge that those years have shaped us into the men we are to-day. Though I can only speak for myself, I am truly grateful for those years.

I was in the College Western Band from Year 1988 and the band was affiliated to the National Cadet Corps in the Year 1994. DRCK was the first ever institution in Sri Lanka to have 75 cadets in three platoons namely Cadet Platoon, Eastern Band and the Western Band. I was the Western Band Sergeant in the Year 1996 and also became a Company Sergeant Major (CSM) of the 2nd Battalion in Year 1997. I also had the rare privi-lege of representing Sri Lanka at the Bangladesh Vic-tory Day Cadet Camp in 1996. During that time we had the opportunity to obtain the guidance of some of the elite past cadets of the col-lege such as Col H.W. Senevirathne, Col K.B.S Wela-gedara, Lt. Col Sarath Abeygunasekara , Major Bu-waneka Bandara Kohona, Major Wijekoon Banda to name a few. To be a Cadet in DRCK is out of the ordinary. Lake View Park consisting 58 acres itself is a great training facility. We used to have our own Obstacle Training Course in the college premises. Every time there were past cadets to lend a hand to the platoons. We learnt a lot about discipline, self survival, leadership, sportsmanship, self reliance, spirit of adventure and responsibility. The golden era of my time came in the Year 1995 where two of our platoons became 01st in their re-spective categories. Our cadet platoon won the co-

veted Herman Loos Trophy for the best Cadet platoon

and our Eastern Band was crowned the Best Eastern Band of the island. The Western Band became third in the island that year, only in their second year in the competition. It was a tough competition and I still remember all our cadets couldn’t control their emo-tions and were crying when they reached victoriously to the ‘Buwelikada Junction’ from Rantambe Cadet Training camp. And whenever we participated for Annual training camps or competitions, we held our heads very high simply due to fact that we were “DRCK Cadets”. And everyone of the platoon was committee to their tasks.

“Never be unprepared”: Being a Cadet at DRCK By Sajith Ellepola

The golden era of my time came in the Year 1995 where two of our pla-

toons became 01st in their respec-tive categories. Our cadet platoon

won the coveted “Herman Loos Trophy” for the best Cadet platoon and our Eastern Band was crowned the Best Eastern Band in the island.

38

There were so many sweet and bitter memories during the period where we were competing at the annual evaluation camp. One example is, we were suppose to prepare our billet for inspection every morning and it has to be neat and almost every item has to be well cleaned, polished and aligned. We had to prepare bunk beds accordingly by aligning towels, bed cov-ers, plates, cups and cutlery. Therefore we used to prepare everything before we go to bed and use to sleep under the beds so that we don’t need to do the hard work in the morning. Obviously sleeping under the bed was a different story. Out of the 10 days at the training camp, the only day we use to sleep on the bed is the last day when there is no inspection for the following day. Also whenever we were getting closer to an Evalua-tion camp, 4 to 5 cadets out of the platoon will have restrictions from their parents to not par-ticipate in the competi-tions. It’s very demand-ing and difficult to stay out of your studies for at least 15-20 days when you are in your AL class. On top of that you will have to sacrifice time, effort and sometime raise money on your own to stay in the game. So usually we have this team of ‘Negotiators’ who will visit parents of those cadets, sometimes in odd hours like 1’o clock in the morning and rate all of them as the best cadet of the pla-toon on an case by case basis and eventually we will end up been successful at least 80% of those cases. Some instances these ‘Negotiation’ discussions will go for 2-3 hours. Because, we take part not only to par-ticipate but to triumph and do our best to the college, we wanted the ‘cream’ to be taken to the camps. As I mentioned before, it was not easy to carry out training camps in the college due to lack of resources especially with arranging meals. We used to raise funds on our own and worked around a very small budget and ended up having cook our own meals.

The best cooks we had were the Rajans Scouts who also took part in cadetting. Thanks to their knowledge and experience, we used to have a decent meal. One unforgettable experience you have as a Cadet is the punishments (extra drills) you get for the mistakes you are doing. Once in a training camp, we were just getting ready for lunch after a very hard morning ses-sion and everyone was dressing up in long sleeve shirt with a college crest on, white short, white socks and black shoes. Unfortunately not all could be in line at the roll call for lunch and our Sergeant was not too pleased with it. It was not the first instance but was the point of no return after several other mistakes before. Therefore, we had to go through a 90 minutes of pu-nishment including running towards ‘Mahamaya Ma-watha’ in that attire at 1.30 pm. One could imagine the embarrassment when some of the cadet’s girl

friends were passing by. When we reached college several cadets were car-ried out by others. And we were ‘on-time’ in advance afterwards throughout the camp. Above is simply a piece of history at the time at DRCK and we were fortunate to follow the steps of the le-gends who paved the way for us. And I truly appre-ciate the time and effort of the past cadets towards the College Cadetting. Finally, I would like to take a moment to remember all Old Rajans who sacrificed their lives to our mother nation. I conclude by co-

pying few words from the speech by Major W.M. Wee-rasooriya, the Chief Guest at the unveiling of the He-roes’ Memorial at DRCK on 11th January 1998.

They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them

Transformative years… With Mr. AP Gunaratne at the helm (1973-1987), Dharmaraja witnessed another transformative era. Rajans excelled in academics during this time, and the acreage went up from 37 to 58. Dharmaraja celebrated its 100th year in style with a grand exhibition and a scout jamboree. Dharmaraja was once again a premier national school in Sri Lanka.

Sajith Ellepola attended Dharmaraja College from 1983 to 1997. He is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) - UK. He works as a Senior Property Accountant in Calgary, Canada.

39

Among the sweet memories of my school days, the ones that revolve around the big matches stand very special. In fact, the very first two big matches that I witnessed almost thirty years ago in 1979 and 1980, happened to be the last two occasions that Rajans were able to beat the boys from the Randle hills. Having joined DRCK at grade six coming from a rural school, the first big match was a totally new ex-perience for me. I can vivid-ly remember Mr A.P. Gunaratne giving us a long sermon at Monday morn-ing assembly as to how we should behave during the big match and cheer our side. It all started early in the morning, as I stepped into my school bus parked in a corner in Gam-pola bus depot. Just as I sat on my usual seat, I heard a big commotion at the front of the bus. When I got down, I saw some senior students started decorating the bus with blue and maroon tissue papers. It did not take too long for the whole bus to look like a Vesak Pandol. The driver and conductor seemed to be enjoying this whole epi-sode quite submissively. When the bus finally started its long Journey towards Kandy, the flags came out flut-tering and songs including that famous one asso-ciated with Maya girls started echoing over and over again. Whenever, the bus stopped at a bus stop filled with school girls, the intensity of singing increased and so did waiving the flags. As we approached Buvalikada junction, I saw that the road and walls were decorated with big white letter-ing. Rajans for Ever! Kingswood go Home!...and there were many others, some even cheering specific play-ers. In a few minutes after the school started, we were escorted to the Police grounds in a line, in pairs, hold-ing each other’s hands. The whole atmosphere was filled with immense excitement.

Police Grounds was a small cricket ground sand-wiched between the rail lines and the police quarters. It was nowhere closer to its present condition. Those days it usually turned into a dust ball during that time of the year. We occupied the hill side traditionally al-located for Rajans. I climbed about twenty feet up in

the hill and sat among Mana bushes on a shopping bag with my class mates to enjoy cricket in scorch-ing sun shine. Of course we had a majestic view of the entire ground from that hill. Rajans were captained by fast bowler Sa-ranath Rat-nayake and the Kingswood was lead by N. R Ratnayake, an elegant left

hander. Kingswoodians

were shot out for a little over hun-dred runs. The chief destroyers were off spinner

Manjula Kulatunge and P.S. Fernando who bowled cutters.

Soon after the lunch, Rajans started batting and the openers Nandana Kanakaratne and Pujith Jayasun-dara walked into the middle. If I remember the name of the opening bowler correctly, he was Jaliya. He was

Memories of Big Matches By Thushara Diyabalanage

…an innocuous bouncer hit him on the temple. It was the era of no helmets and he collapsed like a

tree on the matting. All the players flocked around him, and in few mi-

nutes he was carried off the grounds, not on a stretcher but on

shoulders.

“Cricket”: A painting by James Robinson, a New Zealand artist.

40

a short built and had a fairly long run up for someone who was that shot. Nandana was a hard hitting left hander known for fireworks and everyone was waiting for him to go after the bowling. The very first delivery he faced was cut ferociously through the covers for a four. The next one was an innocuous bouncer, but it took the batmen in total surprise and hit him on the temple. It was the era of no helmets and he collapsed like a tree on the matting. All the players flocked around him, and in few minutes he was carried off the grounds, not on a stretcher but on shoulders. I can recall Mr Asoka Herath frantically announcing using a loud speaker calling for Mr P.N. Ekanayake. He was not a medical doctor; he was our physics teacher who had an old Ford Perfect car that used to be the only mode of transportation at DRCK those days. Despite this unfortunate event, Rajans scored at a brisk rate. As the shadows lengthen across the grounds they had scored more than 200 but had lost their ninth wicket with Dhananjaya Navaratne approaching a century. Last man, Milroy Mendis managed to hang in valiantly, until Dhananjaya completed a stroke filled hundred. Following day, KCK was again bundled out for a small score despite a determined fifty from N. R. Ratnayake giving Rajans a convincing victory. DRCK was able to record consecutive victories as they beat KCK in the following year as well under the cap-taincy of Janaka Mendis, a versatile all rounder who batted in the middle order and bowled medium pace. The boys from the Randle Hills put up a better show in next few years. I can remember stocky built Ramzan Sheriffdeen scoring a sedated hundred making KCK fans ecstatic. Combination of Lalith Wijeratne and Sheriffdeen restored some pride for KCK in the follow-ing years, despite the games ended as tame draws with them having the upper hand. Former who was a lanky fast bowler, had a long run up, and was a con-siderable threat. I can remember him unleashing a probing spell against the top order of Rajans using the bouncer quite effetely. Udaya Yatawara, current pres-ident of the Colombo OBA was the opening batsmen. Udaya hooked one of those bouncers hurled at him so disdainfully that it sailed out of the grounds making the Rajan crowds go berserk. That towering six was big morale booster for many of us, who had to face sev-eral friends in KCK next Monday. Lalith Wijeratne used to intimidate us in batting as well. I can remember him once spanking two consecutive boundaries off Thilina Tennakoon, our captain and opening bowler in his very first over and Kingwoodians erupting with joy. As the big match was moved to Asgiriya International stadium, Rajans were able to regain supremacy. There was lot of expectations on Senka Dissanayake, the opening batsmen who represented Sri Lanka Schools eleven that toured Austraila that year. That team had the legendary cricketers in the caliber of Roshan Mahanama, Asanka Gurusignhe and Aravin-da de Silva. Senaka lived up to the expectation as he

scored a double century breaking the record of the highest individual score of the big mach. Unfortunate-ly, I was not able to see this innings as I was representing DRCK at a competition in Colombo. My friends, who witnessed it, told me that Senaka was able to bisect the field with his crispy drives with such uncanny accuracy, that he was able to score most of his runs in boundaries. However they all thought brisk 88 runs scored by Prasanna Walalewela, was more spectacular than Senakas marathon innings of 201. I was there when Senaka’s younger brother, my class mate Prannsana emulated this feat in 1985. Later on, their younger brother Asanga too joined this exalted club of centurions at the big match establishing a unique record. When we were in junior classes, we have been always advised to not to follow the cheering mobs of old boys. There were quite a few of them that happen to tour around the grounds especially in the afternoons. Famous actor and an old Rajan Amarasiri Kalansuriya used to lead one of those mobs. Intensity of cheering and shouting slogans apparently increased many fold, as one of these parades happened to pass through the territory of the opponents. Some of those old boys were obviously drunk. For many of my friends big match provided an ideal op-portunity to have a feel of alcohol, and for some oth-ers to impress girls. Perhaps, big match environment infused them with an aura of extra stimulus. One of them had a bad, a really bad experience. He was trying to approach some girls at a bus stop with col-lege flag tied around his neck. Unfortunately, he did not notice that our chemistry teacher Mrs Nalini Eka-nayake, a very strict disciplinarian was at the same bus stop. Following Monday she gave us an explicit description of his ‘pathetic display’ making him utterly embarrassed. However she was careful not to mention his name. After leaving school I watched few big matches. Number of friends that I used to meet there, was in a steady decline as most of them have found jobs in Colombo. Eventually, when my turn to leave Kandy arrived, I too lost that habit. Now, living in America I rarely get to hear about the big match. Nevertheless, whenever I see such a report, inevitably my mind drifts back few decades to immerse in those moments of innate excitement and exuberant joy.

Thushara Diyabalanage, attended Dharmaraja from 1978 to 1985. He received his BSc and MPhil degrees from the Univer-sity of Peradeniya and a PhD degree in Organic Chemistry from the University of South Florida, USA. Currently he is a National Institute of Health Post-doctoral fellow at the Nation-al Cancer Institute at Frederick, Maryland, USA.

41

Building up for the celebration of 100 years of DRCK scouting in 2013 is under way. It is no small feat for any organization to boast a century-old history. Besides the number of years, history of Rajans scouting is richer than any other movement affiliated to DRCK and full of unparalleled achievements.

A quarter of a century ago I joined this proud outfit as a junior scout with as many as 50 or so other 6th graders. Many years passed by and we went through the rituals of obtaining many merit badges and other awards, took part in many activities, and above all, became part of an eternal brotherhood. By the time we left DRCK, our troop had declined to little more than a handful. I dedicate this note as a tribute to those who are so fortunate to share this friendship spanning a quarter of a century (Lasitha A, Rohitha D, Rasika E, Asela I, Amarabandu K, Eranga K, Abhaya N, Chaminda R, Jayantha R, Sanka T [Me!], and Geeth U) and also those who led us by showing the way for-ward (Saman B, Saluka G, Jagath H, Jaliya P, and Susi-ri W).

In early 1984, when I came to DRC at grade 6, I was looking for an opportunity to join the scouts group. It wasn’t until May or June of that year the “Troop No. 6” was initiated at the summit of the Lake View hill and I was one of many who were gathered outside the “Adventure Club” building on that day. We were as-signed to several patrols and mine was called “Swan”, a bird I despised very much for some mysterious rea-son. What followed was an amazing chapter of my life full of enjoyment, excitement, and adventure. And later it resulted in a much-cherished friendship with handful of peers now scattered around the world. Also we became part of a brotherhood spanning across few generations.

A training camp held few months later at Lake View was our first outdoor experience as boy scouts, which was the precursor to many outdoor adventures to follow. Hanthana, Alagalla, Bible Rock, Hunnasgiriya, and many other peaks became our own back yards and frequented by us whenever there was a break

from school. Many of these peaks can be seen from school and a part of the picturesque scenery from the summit. We went on some of these hikes during night, finding the way up in pitch dark and catching few hours’ sleep at the mountaintop in a small tent. Reward of the risk and burden was the scenery of the valley below, sometimes covered

with heavenly clouds beneath us at early hours and the magnificent sunrise! Horton Plains was our favorite destination for an excursion of few days. The overnight upcountry train-trip from Peradeniya to Ohiya fol-lowed by an expedition uphill to reach the magnifi-cent plains was a dream-like experience. The

“Knuckles” range was another, which demanded a scaling up the mountains through roaring waterfalls followed by a few days hike to Meemure.

“Look to the Past, March Forward” By Sanka Tennakoon

Once we were caught up in rapids and the raft was overhauled. None

of us knew how to swim at that time but managed not only to hang on to the raft and survive, but also to continue the rest of a thrilling ad-

venture. Last leg was to hitch a ride from a lorry or a truck from Perade-

niya to Kandy.

Camp Fire: Oil painting by Winslow Homer

42

My favorite of all is rafting in Mahaweli. We made our raft with few bamboo sticks cut from our back yard tied to a few battered and patched up tubes rescued from Kandy South Bus Depot. This “equipment” was hauled in a train from Kandy to Gampola. Then they were tied up into some form of a raft and launched from the riverbank under the bridge of Gamopla-Nuwareliya highway. Maneuvering was done with couple of sticks. Not surprisingly, the raft needed fre-quent stops for repairs and change of configuration to keep it afloat. Once we were caught up in rapids and the raft was overhauled. None of us knew how to swim at that time but managed not only to hang on to the raft and survive, but also to continue the rest of a thril-ling adventure. Last leg was to hitch a ride from a lorry or a truck from Peradeniya to Kandy. We were not able to ride a bus not only because we all were wet to the skin, but also there were these bits and pieces of the raft to carry with us. The tubes we used were a proud possession and served us for many years. Later, we became assistant scout leaders and were in charge of junior scout troops during when Bathalego-da Lake near Kurunegala became an attraction for us for camping. The same tubes served us dearly when we enjoyed the waters of this beautiful lake.

Many landmarks of DRCK have been celebrated with mega scouts events and the pinnacle is none but the “Rajans Jim” held in 1987 as part of the Dharmaraja centenary celebrations. We were fortunate to be part of many other events with a variety of themes includ-ing the “Rajans Venture”. In 1986, 1989, and 1990 we traveled to India and Bangladesh to take part in Inter-national Jamborees. Intense fund raising campaigns, days long train trips across the sub continent, hours long ferry trips to cross river “Ganges”, and friendships cast with other foreign boy scouts and girl guides have left a lasting memory among us.

When we advanced through successive phases of scouting, subconsciously we absorbed the essence of those trademark mottos; “Do Your Best” for cub scouts, “Be Prepared” for junior scouts, “Look Wide” for senior scouts, and “Service” for rover scouts. When I look back, “perseverance” is also abundantly evident in many of our activities. In 1989 we competed in the “Orientation Program” conducted by the University Explorers Club. It was an adventure, exploration, and hiking competition for schools, to which we prepared for few weeks. Unfortunately, the day before the competition I sprained my ankle very badly and was barely able to walk but I didn’t want to withdraw from the team and insisted on taking part. Next day, during the competition, I was exhausted within few minutes

due to the pain. Not only I was helped to the summit of Hanthana but also several team members hauled me back to the campus grounds using “Fireman’s Lift”. And we won the competition in style! To add to the glory, when we were undergraduates at Peradeniya, some of us were able to revive this program in 1996, which has not been conducted for few years.

Even after leaving school in early 1990’s, we joined the Old Rajans Scouts Association (ORSA) and continued to take part in many events at Lake View. Also we continued our outdoor adventures even though we were caught up in busy adult life. Then, in a way to show our gratitude to our beloved school and the scouts group, we created a trust fund in 2006 (oldra-jansscoutstrustfund.blogspot.com/). Geeth U. took the initiative and now it has attracted nearly 50 Old Rajans from around the world. Even with initial setbacks we proudly managed to support many events since its inception including the Scouts Parents Day and Hima-layn Expedition in 2007, RANSAI Jamboree and the Teachers’ Guild of DRC in 2008. Our main goal is to be a major sponsor of the centenary celebration of Ra-jans scouting to be held in 2013. Our wish is to re-unite in 2013 at Lake View to feel the cool breeze from Kandy Lake, indulge in the greenery of Dumbara val-ley, and spend another cheerful night around a campfire.

With my friends, I salute our scouts and young Rajans who continue to excel and carry the Rajans flag for-ward to give us a reminiscence of our past glory. I pay tribute to our forefathers who left us a rich and proud history. Finally, I dedicate this note for our fond memo-ries of countless nights spent around campfires lit at Lake View, Horton Plains, Pedroo, and by many river-banks and lakes shores.

“Look to the Past, March Forward” &

“Forward with Strength” (I borrowed these fitting themes from the 70th and 95th Anniversary Celebrations of 1st Kandy Dharmaraja Scouts Group)

Sanka Tennakoon, attended Dharmaraja from 1984 to 1992. He received a BSc degree in 1999 from the University of Peradeniya and a MS degree in 2007 from University of Houston, USA. Currently he is a Chemist at Shell E&P/ORC in Houston, Texas, USA.

43

Most of us think of networking when we are out of work, looking for a new job, ventur-ing out on our own to build a new business or struggling to keep our own businesses af-loat. This perhaps may be the worst time to start networking! Networking is not only about 'what's in it for me.' It is also an

opportunity to see 'what I can do for the other person.' I find that this approach to networking has allowed me to build and sustain an extensive network of great professionals around the world.

It was only a few weeks ago that I met an entrepre-neur in Calgary through LinkedIn, a professional net-working site. Though his work did not relate directly to my organization he was doing some interesting projects and I was keen to learn more. So I invited him to visit the campus for a meeting. We shared informa-tion about what our organizations are doing and what our continuing organizational needs were. We dis-cussed how some of the work he did could benefit our students at DeVry Institute of Technology when they are searching for employment opportunities. I also shared that we were recruiting for some positions and talent was hard to come by for some of these vacan-cies. Within a week of us meeting, he recommended a person as a possible candidate to fill one of the va-cancies that I had mentioned to him. The interview process found him to be the best candidate for the job. He was hired and started working for DeVry in October. This is a good example of how we should approach networking. I did not meet with an aim to fulfill a busi-ness need. I wanted to make a connection, which I did. I was genuinely interested to in getting know another colleague. However, in the process he was able to help my organization and I was able to help his friend. Had I approached networking as way to 'meet a need' I would not have made the connec-tion, let alone be of help to one another. A win-win-win situation! The key to good networking is building long-term pro-fessional relationships. I feel that networking can be most rewarding and beneficial when there is no im-mediate need to be fulfilled. This gives you the oppor-tunity to approach and get to know people from a wide range of backgrounds and positions. Because you are not out to 'get something' from networking, it becomes easier to spend time getting know and shar-

ing information with others. As a result, others maybe more receptive to you and would be more likely to want to establish a connection. It is unfortunate that most people tend to seek out those who hold key positions in organizations that can assist in helping to get jobs and opening up business opportunities. It is also unfortunate that some people approach networking as a race to give out and col-lect the most number of business cards. I have seen this at many networking events. Such individuals are quick to tell their story and why one should invest in their products/services and move on to the next per-son. These are very narrow approaches to networking. It's difficult to establish a good network of people that you can tap into for years, if your approach is short-termed and as a result you may not reap the best benefits out of that connection. Good networking is also about helping others to make connections. This immediately takes away the need to put yourself first and have the 'what's in it for me' frame of mind and instead apply a 'how do I get to know you' and 'what can I do for you' attitude. This approach will also open up your mind to network with not only those who are holding senior and key posi-tions in organizations but also people who are starting up and who maybe seeking for opportunities just as you do. Throughout my career I have always been actively engaged in helping someone who is starting out. It gives me great satisfaction to help someone

else just as I have been helped at many times in my career. It is my way of sharing what I have received. I recently took on a person I had known for sometime under my wings. He was a new immigrant and was struggling to establish himself in the Canadian job market despite his excellent credentials. I coached and helped him on building up a resume and facing interviews. I also put him in touch with potential em-ployers and professionals who may assist him in secur-ing employment. I not only introduced him to my net-work but also made it a point to talk to my network about the person who will be calling on them soon and why he would be an asset. Through one such

Networking for Life By Ranil Herath

Networking can be most re-warding and beneficial when

there is no immediate need to be fulfilled.

44

connection, he was able to secure a management level position in a Toronto based firm in September. While one makes the connections and builds on rela-tionships, it is also important to maintain them by keep-ing in touch. Keeping in touch with your contacts via email, over coffee or lunch will allow you to get to know them well and their ongoing needs and also give you an opportunity to update them on your on-going needs and goals. It is also important to find ways of passing on new op-portunities to your contacts or connecting your con-tacts with each other, if specific needs exist. When I was working in Toronto, I connected with an organiza-tion that was looking for a specific training for their engineers. I realized that one of my contacts, who specialized in this type of training, may be of help them. I took the time to introduce the two parties which resulted in the company getting their training requirement fulfilled and my trainer contact getting additional business. So, it is important to know how best you can connect the opportunity with the right person as well. It builds trust and goodwill. There are many ways one can network. While net-working events are good opportunities, there are some very useful online tools and web sites that can

help you connect with people from all backgrounds. Websites such as LinkedIn, Xing, Konnects, eCademy and Ryze can help you connect with thousands of other professional like yourselves. Professional mem-bership bodies are another great source and tool. They not only provide networking opportunities with those in the same profession or industry but also will help you to gain additional credentials to enhance your profile. Community service organizations such the Rotary Club can provide great opportunities to build fellowship while serving the community. Volunteering for charity organizations and not-for-profit organiza-tions can also help you build connections and friend-ships while reaping the benefits of giving back to the community. Stepping up to service on committees or boards of organizations can also open up doors to great networking opportunities. Building and fostering relationships is the key to grow-ing a great network. To do this you must invest your time and stay connected. If you are a lifelong net-worker, you would already have a great network that you can tap into with ease and reap ample rewards. But if you someone who did not network much and wondering when to get started the best time is NOW! All you need is an open mind and a heart to genuinely connect with others.

Ranil Herath is the President of DeVry University's Calgary Campus. He is an alumnus of both Dharmaraja and Trinity Colleges and also the son of one of the Dharmaraja Principals in the recent history, Mr Nihal Herath.

45

All of us uprooted ourselves from our traditional ho-melands and came to the West for various reasons. Primarily among them were two reasons which moti-vated us to immigrate: one, the need to leave in order to get a better education and thereby achieve a bet-ter standard of living, and the other, the attraction to a new way of life. Some of the compelling reasons that drove those from Europe who came to the US via Ellis Island by boat are not much different from the reasons for the relatively recent Sri Lankan arrivals in the United States that mostly flew in. Economic oppor-tunity would certainly be on top of the list for most immigrants while political freedom and ethnic preju-dice would not be far behind for some. While a relatively large number of Sri Lankans immi-grated to the lands of the colonial masters and Com-monwealth nations such as Canada and Australia, some found US to be more conducive to their ambi-tion of finding suitable professions in their chosen fields and making a better life for themselves and their fami-lies. As one would expect, consistent with the rich tra-dition of positive family values and emphasis on edu-cation that prevailed in Sri Lanka for generations, safe-ty, education of children and economic indepen-dence were primary motivators in almost every in-stance. Regardless of the promise of a better future in the US or elsewhere, the decision to leave their ho-meland and endure the physical and emotional sepa-ration from loved ones and travel to a largely unfami-liar country located half way around the world was heart-wrenching for those who left as well as for those who were left behind. Having grown up in a tropical land, the vagaries of the changing temperate weather with four seasons and the adjustment required to live in harmony with the environment were painful. From a world of largely informal and personal contacts and “who you know” for achieving anything one desired, following the countless city, county, state and federal rules and regulations to get anything was a major hurdle to many who struggled to settle down. From renting an apartment and furnishing a house to getting the state drivers license was a challenge that had to be over-come with skill and diligence so as not to mess-up the web of legal and other formalities. But much more mundane were the minor irritations when some Amer-icans asked where did we learned to speak such good English, if the accent was British, whether Sri Lan-ka is the same as Sierra Leon or is it in Africa, and often simply refused to even attempt to pronounce our typ-ically long first and last names, be it a clerk in an of-fice, teller at the bank, an officer at the department of motor vehicles or even colleagues in our diverse work places.

Sri Lankans are well known for their quick smile and easygoing manner. What is often taken for granted, however, is our ability to communicate well in English, which gave us a crucial head-start in establishing life in the US and working towards the American Dream. While most other first generation immigrant groups struggled to learn English first before focusing their attention on other priorities, thanks to the British, we did not have to confront this often frightful hurdle. This advantage, coupled with our natural and acquired entrepreneurial qualities, enabled Lankan men and women equally not only to secure employment at various levels but also thrive virtually in any trade or industry of their choice in this open, yet competitive environment. Thanks to the advances in mass communication, speedy travel, and other technological break-throughs, being in constant touch and meeting at reasonable intervals with loved ones and friends back home and keeping abreast of developments have been relatively easy. What is more difficult however, has been the burden of individual and collective life memories carried from Sri Lanka, and overcoming the nostalgia that engulfs us every now and then. Until very recently, the seemingly never-ending civil war in the motherland has caused the biggest strain, despite the long distance separating Lankans from their adopted land. Like every other immigrant group, Lan-kans too have founded various religious, sporting, school and other social associations which bring the community together with reasonable regularity in or-der to support charitable and other initiatives or even simply reminisce the good old days spent back home. Most of the first generation Sri Lankan-Americans has by and large ensured that their primary objective of educating their children and providing them with a brighter future in the adopted land has been achieved. The others are well on their way towards achieving the same. Most of them have also seen in their lifetime and been beneficiaries of some of the greatest advancements in human endeavor, be it eradicating diseases, concurring space, mass com-munication, information technology and globalization of trade and commerce. But embedded deeply with-in their happiness and well deserved prosperity in the adopted land are the longstanding urge to witness a prosperous, harmonious and truly democratic Sri Lan-ka that they can truly be proud of.

Aspects of Life Far Away from Motherland By Shanta Karunaratne

Shantha Karunaratne, an old Rajan, is the son of Prof W.S. Karunaratrne a distinguished scholar and a former Sri Lankan ambassador to USA. His mother is also a former teacher at DRCK. Shanta is a very active member of Washington DC chapter. He lives in Potomac with his family.

46

Recently I came across a picture of some of my classmates taken when we were at Dharmaraja. While it brought back nostalgic memories of the good old days at our alma mater, the most striking thing that I noticed was how thin we were back then. Age re-lated increase in body weight is almost always due to excess body fat accumulation. So, is having too much fat a bad thing? The answer to that question is a grim “Yes”. Scientists have shown that excess body fat is associated with an increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes (referred to as diabetes henceforth), heart disease and certain cancers. In this article, I will mainly focus on the relationship between excess body fat and diabetes. Have diabetes? Blame your fat. The number of individuals with diabetes has gone up drastically within the last decade. Alarmingly, the age of onset of diabetes has also been reduced so that a lot of people get it at a younger age. So how does excess body fat cause diabetes? Fat is stored in the body in a specialized tissue called the adipose tissue. The bulk of this is under the skin, while there is a certain amount of adipose tissue around internal organs of the body. Traditionally, scientists thought that the only function of the adipose tissue was to store lipids. How-ever, recently it was found out that the adipose tissue also produces hormones. Hormones are chemical messengers that go to distant sites of the body and affect normal bodily functions. When a person is eat-ing more than his/her body needs, the excess energy from the food is stored in the adipose tissue as lipids. When this continues, because the adipose tissue runs out of space to store the lipids, they become depo-sited in other abnormal sites like the liver. Also, when this happens, some cells in the adipose tissue start dy-ing. When there is an injury to the body, it mounts a response to overcome and repair the effects of the injury. This is called inflammation. So, when the adi-pose tissue is injured due to excess lipids, inflammation sets in. When there is inflammation, the site of inflam-mation is loaded with white blood cells which pro-duce numerous chemicals. These chemicals, along with changes in hormones normally produced from the adipose tissue interfere with the action of insulin. Insulin is the hormone which maintains blood sugar within normal levels. So, when the above chemicals interfere with the actions of insulin, to keep blood glu-cose within normal levels, the pancreas has to pro-duce more insulin. Eventually, the pancreas fails to produce enough insulin to keep blood sugar normal, leading to diabetes. What is my percent body fat? How do we find out what our body fat percentage is and whether it is normal? The ideal body fat is consi-

dered to be less than 22% for males and less than 32% for females. There are several techniques to measure the body fat percentage in an individual. While direct

measurements are more expensive and time consum-ing, there are several accurate indirect measures of body fat. You might have come across some of these methods at fitness centers. Is there an easier way to predict our body fat percentage without using this equipment? Yes, and that is called the body mass index or BMI. If you know your height in meters and weight in kilograms, the BMI is calculated by weight / (height2). For example, if your weight and height are 70kg and 1.8m respectively, your BMI would be 70/1.82

= 21.6. According to the world health organization, a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered normal, while 25 to 29.9 and above 30 are classified as overweight and obese respectively. So according to these criteria, we should try to keep our BMI under 25. However, a re-cent recommendation from the Indian Physicians based on data from India states that Indians should try to keep their BMI under 23. Because of similarities of ethnic origins between Indians and Sri Lankans it is likely that this recommendation is applicable to Sri Lankans as well. Location, location, location While having excess body fat is bad for health, where you have fat is also important in this regard. Fat stored under the skin is considered to be less harmful than that stored inside the abdomen. Thus, having a large waist line puts one at a higher risk of getting diabetes and heart disease. This is why some individuals with normal BMI, but with higher abdominal fat end up getting diabetes. This is especially true for Asians in-cluding Sri Lankans. What can I do? So what should you do if you are overweight or ob-ese? The first thing to do is to accept the fact that you are at a higher risk of getting the chronic diseases that

Obesity and Diabetes – the Fat Connection, Older, Wiser and Heavier By Nishan Sudheera Kalupahana

Recently I came across a picture of some of my classmates taken when

we were at Dharmaraja. While it brought back nostalgic memories of the good old days at our alma

mater, the most striking thing that I noticed was how thin we were

back then.

47

I mentioned above. This should motivate you to meet your physician with a view of doing some screening tests for other risk factors for those diseases as well as starting a weight-loss program. It is unanimously ac-cepted in the medical world now that the initial treatment for diabetes should be weight loss. A loss of even 10% body weight makes a significant improve-ment in the diabetic status. The most effective weight loss programs have a combination of dietary, physical activity and lifestyle changes. It is important to set rea-listic goals when you are trying to lose weight. Ideally, one should target a weight loss of 1-2 pounds per week. Some methods that have worked for most people include cutting down calories and fat, increas-ing physical activity, eating breakfast every day, keeping a record of what you eat and the activities you do and measuring weight and waist circumfe-rence weekly to assess progress.

Prevention is better than cure Although this is cliché, it is much easier to prevent weight gain rather than losing it once you are over-weight. Eating right, exercising and regularly measur-ing your body weight are key to maintaining a steady weight. It is also worth remembering that as we age, our bodies tend to work slower, so that we have to cut down on what we eat to prevent weight gain over time. Finally, while excess body fat is one risk factor for diabetes, it must be said that there are other factors like lack of physical activity and increased intake of saturated fat containing food like coconut and whole milk, which further increase this risk. Modifying these factors will help you in reducing your risk for many chronic diseases which will not only improve your qual-ity of life but also reduce your health costs in the fu-ture.

Since Sputnik 1 (the first artificial satellite launched by the Soviet Union in 1957), the United States and about 40 other countries have developed, launched, and operated satellites. Today, about 3,000 useful satellites and 6,000 pieces of space junk are orbiting Earth. People use them for communica-tion, military (spy), study the Universe and the Earth, na-vigation, weather fore-casting, and research etc. Space stations and human spacecraft in orbit are also satellites. The moon is the only natural satellite of the Earth. Types of orbit There are essentially three types of Earth orbits: high Earth orbit, medium Earth orbit, and low Earth orbit. Many weather and some communications satellites tend to have a high Earth orbit, farthest away from the surface. Satellites that orbit in a medium (mid) Earth orbit include navigation and specialty satellites, de-signed to monitor a particular region. Most scientific satellites, including NASA’s Earth Observing System fleet, have a low Earth orbit.

The height of the orbit, or distance between the satel-lite and Earth’s surface, determines how quickly the satellite moves around the Earth. An Earth-orbiting satellite’s motion is mostly controlled by Earth’s gravity. As satellites get closer to Earth, the pull of gravity gets

stronger, and the satellite moves more quickly. NASA’s Aqua satel-lite, for example, requires about 99 minutes to orbit the Earth at about 705 kilometers up, while a weather satellite at 42,164 kilometers away takes 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds to complete an orbit. At 384,403 kilome-ters from the center of the Earth, the Moon completes a single orbit in 28 days.

Cool stuff: If an satellite operator on the ground wants to speed up, he needs to apply brakes. Then, gravity will pull the satellite to a lower orbit, making the satel-lite to move fast. Geostationary Satellites They are high orbit satellites. At about 22,300 miles (about 35,900 km) above the Earth's equator, the force of gravity is cancelled by the centrifugal force of

Eyes on the Earth By Sarith Mahanama

Satellite image of DRCK new cricket ground from Google. The image was taken by GeoEye-1 satellite, orbiting 423 miles from Earth and moving at a speed of about 4.5 miles per second. The satellite camera can distinguish 0.41m ground resolution black-and-white and 1.65 m color images

Sudheera Kalupahana graduated from Dharmaraja in 1993 and recieved an MBBS degree from the University of Peradeniya where he later joined the Department of Physiology as a lecturer. Currently he is completing his PhD at the University of Tennessee, Obesity Research Center on Diabetes and Obesity.

48

the rotating universe. This is the ideal spot to park a stationary satellite. Thus, satellites are parked in space at this geostationary orbit that does not move at all relative to the ground. It is always directly over the same place on the Earth’s surface. They are used for weather forecasting, satellite TV, satellite radio and most other types of global communications. Sun-synchronous Polar Orbiting Satellites They are low orbit satellites. The polar-orbiting satellites have a sweet spot that allows them to stay in one time. This orbit is a Sun-synchronous orbit, which means that whenever and wherever the satellite crosses the equator, the local solar time on the ground is always the same. For the Terra satellite for example, it’s al-ways about 10:30 in the morning when the satellite crosses the equator in Brazil. When the satellite comes

around the Earth in its next overpass about 99 minutes later, it crosses over the equator in Ecuador or Colom-bia at about 10:30 local time. Other Sweet Spots Other orbital “sweet spots,” just beyond high Earth orbit, are the 5 Lagrange points. At these points, the pull of gravity from the Earth cancels out the pull of gravity from the Sun. Anything placed at these points will feel equally pulled toward the Earth and the Sun and will revolve with the Earth around the Sun. The first Lagrange point (L1) is located between the Earth and the Sun, giving satellites a constant view of the Sun. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SO-HO), a NASA and European Space Agency satellite tasked to monitor the Sun, orbits the first Lagrange point, about 1.5 million kilometers away from Earth. The L2 point is about the same distance from the Earth, but is located behind the Earth. Earth is always between the L2 point and the Sun. Since the Sun and

Earth are in a single line, satellites at this location only need one heat shield to block heat and light from the Sun and Earth. It is a good location for space tele-scopes, including the future James Webb Space Tele-scope (Hubble’s successor, scheduled to launch in 2014). The L3 point is opposite the Earth on the other side of the Sun so that the Sun is always between it and Earth. A satellite in this position would not be able to com-municate with Earth. The L4 and L5 points are in Earth’s orbital path around the Sun, 60 degrees ahead of and behind Earth. The twin Solar Terrestrial Relations Obser-vatory (STEREO) spacecraft orbit at the L4 and L5 points to provide a three-dimensional view of the Sun. Destination Earth From the outer space, we can view Earth as a whole system, observe the results of complex interactions,

and begin to understand how our planet is changing. NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) fleet comprises a series of artificial satellite missions and scientific instru-ments in Earth orbit designed for long-term global ob-servations of the land surface, biosphere, atmosphere, and oceans of the Earth. The program is centerpiece of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise (ESE) and the first of the fleet was launched in 1997. Why EOS is important? 1990s has been reported as the hottest decade since 1850. EOS and other global observation satellites show that the Arctic Ocean summer sea ice has retreated by 40 percent; sea levels are rising at 3.4 millimeters per year; most of the world’s glaciers are retreating. CO2 concentrations in Earth atmosphere has in-creased by 148% since the mid-1700s and continue to rise due to burning of fossil fuels and land-use change. Hence, a comprehensive global monitoring such as EOS can answer accurately key questions on chang-ing climate system of the best planet in the universe, good old Earth. (credit: NASA Earth Observatory)

The satellites of NASA’s Earth Observing System monitor daily events and long term changes (Image source: NASA)

The terminus of Switzerland’s Steigletcher receded while the ice thinned dramatically from 1994 to 2006. (Photographs copyright Jürg Alean and Michael Hambrey, Glaciers Online)

49

Dharmaraja Scouting Activities By R.A.A.S.Ranasinghe Grade 11 Lord Baden Powell in 1907 organized an experimental camp on Brownsea Island in Pearl harbor, England for a group of 20 boys. This was not a scout camp. But it was the birth of the Boy Scout Movement, which has now spread all over the world. Dharmaraja College did not take a long time to follow his footsteps and in 1913 1st Kandy Dharmaraja Scout troop was formed.

When considering scouting activities the first great achievement was its remarkable 95-year history in the local and international scouting arena. They won the “king’s flag” for three consecutive years are 1917, 1918 and 1919. Also Dharmaraja scouts won the “Brigadier Hackett Thompson Championship” for all-round excellence at the first ever all round rally held at the Colombo Race Course in 1917. Henry Thenuwara of Dharmaraja scouts group was the sole Ceylon representative at the 1st Imperial Jamboree held in England in 1920 at the Crystal Palace.

Another great achievement that Rajans gained was the” Rajans Jim” when Dharmaraja college celebrated the centenary in 1987. 1st Kandy Scout group and the Old Rajans’ Scouts Association organized the Rajans Centenary Jim 1987 to commemorate the 100 years in a grand style. It was a fascinating program which any scout can remember proudly. There were many local as well as International scouts participated and had a joyful campaign in those days. JIM was a precious historical situation because it was the 1st time those tents has been placed in 2 decks. Upper deck

and the lower deck, because of this incident it gained a great honor to Rajans throughout the whole Sri Lankan history. Undefeatable Rajans always change the flow of the way of society “The record holders, record crackers”.

From 1993 to 2006 Rajans Scouts won the “Island Merit Flag” many times for being the Best scout group in Sri Lanka. Next the Sri Lankan contingent participated in21st world Jamboree from July 27 to Aug 8 in Gilwell Park, London, England. This was the first time in the history of scouting in Sri Lanka, which such a large number of scouts from one school represented at a world Jamboree. When considering out-door activities, the expedition of Himalaya, our scouts bring an honour to our motherland in several occasions, from 1985 to 2007. Experienced mountaineer Ajith Jayasekara was the master in charge of the Himalaya expedition and he guided our scouts with his experience.

The 1st Kandy Dharmaraja Scout troop celebrated it as the 95th

anniversary in this year by organizing a leadership and adventure program called “RANSAI 2008”. It is one of the most entertaining leadership programs. This program was the first ever fully sponsored scouts’ international adventure event held in Sri Lanka.

This program was organized by the Small Scout Lions with the massive support of the Old Scouts of Dharmaraja College.

Prior to this event, both the group associations had organized several international events. Rajans’ Century Jim in 1987, Desai Jamborette in 1994, Rajans’ Venture in 1997,Rajans Millennium Jamboree in 2000 and Rajans’ Jim in 2003 are few of them. They were held in grand scale to commemorate the long history of scouting. Scouting is an activity, which creates a better world. Rajans scouting is an activity, which creates new people who are able to

face challenges and defeat any obstacles found in their path for perfection.

HAIL RAJANS! THE LEGENDS SINCE 1913.....! By Lakmal Buddika Meegahapola Grade 11E Lord Baden Powell in 1907 organized a camp on Brownsea island in England with a group of 20 boys. That was not a scout camp. But it was the birth of the Boy scout movement which has now spread all over the world. Dharmaraja college, Kandy didn't take too long to follow the steps forwaded by Lord Baden Powell and in 1913 the 1st Kandy Dharmaraja scouting group which is also 2nd scouting troop in Sri Lanka. The pioneers of starting scouting in Dharmaraja college

DAANA Wallpaper Articles by Dharmaraja Students

Thousands' Laugh - a story, a dream, a wish that came true By Yumal Chathurange Kuruppu Grade 11E It was times of eighties where, The cruelty of a living life came bare, For a certain race he pretended on care, Reprisals made on a theme unfair, He rose not for the people's sake, He went not for a charge one made, Thus " war " was his only word, And sworn he could win whole world, T'was a country rich he tried to smother, For the lives made mortal he hardly bother, But the return uprose with the hardest power, By the walk of humans to a peaceful bower, A violent being made not to breathe further, Nor a country to suffer, once again neither! For thousands died in the war, we cried, Turned "thousands laugh" when a single died.

50

were Mr. J.H.de Seram and Mr. G.H.de Seram. And the principal at that time Mr. K.F.Billimoria too gave the patronage for the development of facilities for scouting. The 1st Kandy Dharmaraja scout group has a remarkable 95 year history. In the local and international scout arena with it's very 1st great achievement, the King's flag which they won for 3 consecutive years 1917, 1918 and 1919. And they won the Brigadier Hacket Thompson championship flag for all around excellence at the 1st ever island rally held at the Colombo race course in 1917.Among them, winning the King's flag is so important as it was given to the school or the group which had the most number of King scouts in commonwealth countries. And the scout Henry Thenuwara was the sole Ceylonese representative at the 1st imperial jamboree which was held in England in 1920 at the Crystal palace. And in 1921 the Rajans scout group had the unique distinction of providing a guard of honor to the Prince of Wales(King Edward the 8th) who visited Sri Lanka. 1st Kandy scout s had the rare opportunity to honor the founder Lord Baden Powell in 1921 by his visit to Dharmaraja college. Dharmaraja scouts had facilitated the founder on 3 different occasions when he visited Sri Lanka. That is an Golden land mark in the history Rajans' scouting. The summit which is on a promontory in the Lake view park within the 54 acre land belonging to Dharmaraja college provides a panoramic view of the surrounding, which had been allocated for the scout group by the the principal late Mr P.de.Kularatne in 1924.Later in 1984 time scout centre was named as the LAKEVIEW PARK INTERNATIONAL SCOUT CENTRE, and recently the hill where it is situated was renamed as the "Baden Powell hill".

And with the time Rajans' scouting developed a lot and won the Island merit flag from time to time very often. To strengthen the scouting in the college the 1st ever old scout union in Sri Lanka was established as the Old rajans scout union in 1978 November 12 under the President Saliya Rajakaruna.The most important thing is that the secretary at that time Mr.Shantha Madurawe is the national training commissioner of Sri Lanka. Many principals and group scout leaders did a great service to uplift the scouting facilities in the college. The principal Mr A.P Gunaratnas' dedication and the guidance for the scouting of the college achieved chronicles in the history. Our scouts brought honor to the motherland in several occasions, climbing the HIMALAYA MOUNTAIN 7 TIMES from 1985 to 2008. Expert explorer Ajith Jayasekara, master of the Himalayan expeditions in srilanka guided the scouts with his immense experience. With all these great achievements in the history, Rajans scouting is praised all over the world for their excellence. winning the All island merit flag from 1993 up to now is another great achievement by the Rajans scouts which add a more icing to the cake which contains all the great achievement in the past. "If there is scouting somewhere around.... Rajans are there...... If there are some Rajans somewhere around..... The word scouting is always there...." That is a bond which will never be destroyed and it is a bond which is IMMORTAL......!!! "RAJANS,THE SCOUT LEGENDS.!" My Mother and Father By Chamath Kavinda Molagoda Grade 9A I thank to the nature for giving such good parents. There are my home Gods. My father’s name is

Sarath Deshapriya Molagoda and my mother’s name is Devika Molagoda. My father is 45 years old. He is an Irrigation Engineer. I can say he is my best friend in my world. He has an unfailing road. He helps in studies and teaches me math lessons when I cannot understand. He never says “ no ” for anything I ask. I am really proud of him. He has no brothers or sisters. I recall the days when he showed his affection on me and my brothers. He went to Katharagama office when I was seven years old. And now he in Nuwara Eliya. When he was work in Katharagama office I could remember the way he wrote me and my brothers to take care of ourselves and study well. To say more I am lucky to get such kind, loving father. My mother is a teacher. She also hasn’t any brothers or sisters. But she was an unwavering woman. She gives me advice and correct me when I am wrong. She was the one who taught me how to eat, talk, read and write for the first time in my life. So, she is the most important person to me in this world. She is very kind and pleasant. I am proud to have a mother like her. I haven’t any words to describe my parents love. I am lucky and also proud to have me such good parents. CHARLES DARWIN By Abheetha Ekanayake Grade 11C Charles Darwin (1809-1882) is an English naturalist. While a student at Cambridge met a Botanist through whom he won appointment as naturalist on the Beagle on surveying expedition to southern islands, South American coasts and Australia (1831-1836). He published journal of researches into the geology and natural history of the various countries visited by H.M.S. Beagle, 1832-1836. Observations on volcanic islands (1844), Geological society

51

(1838-1841) studied variation in living and fossil barnacles (1846-1854); Sir Charles Lyell induced him to write out (1856) results of his experiments in inbreeding and his theory of evolution by natural selection (first given written shape, 1842); received (1858) manuscript from Alfred Russel Wallace from the Malay archipelago presenting an abstract of an identical theory of natural selection; published Wallace’s essay along with his own 1844 essay (1858). Published on the origin of species by means of natural selection(1859),a rousing a storm of controversy ; the variation of animals and plants under domestication, setting up provisional hypothesis of pangenesis (1868);The descent of man and selection in relation to sex, deriving the human race from an animal of the anthropoid group(1871); The expression of the emotions in man and animals(1872):a series of supplemental treatises on cross-fertilization and self – fertilization, ecology, climbing plants, etc. Reference: Quammen, D (2009): Darwin's First Clues, National Geographic, Vol 215 No 2, 34-55. Kandy By S.N.B. Ekanayake Grade 11C The Sinhalese kings did not need to build fortresses and towers of defense. There were the cold and colorful valleys surrounded by hills, watered by sparkling streams amidst rambling wild roses and morning glory. The kings fled into any of these armored palaces and the enemies were beaten in the passes. Hanguranketa was one of these natural fortresses of defense. Kandy was the greatest natural fortress. It was guarded all along the way. No invader could guess where the danger lay. Wisely, therefore, he decided to turn back and go.

The last kings stayed here until the glory of Lanka vanished. Kandy remained closed up and unchanged all through the years. It was guarded by custom and tradition. Though Kandy is less than Seventy five miles from Colombo, outsiders seldom went there to stay. They preferred the freedom of the low country. Like the people the arts and crafts of Kandy remained unchanged, too. The silver and the brass work continued to be the same. The laquer work and the mat weaving saw no change. Thin, dim-sighted men with spectacles on their noses would sit down at their work-desks and beat into shape, silver, copper and brass vessels and vases, trays and scroll-cases with that precision known to the fine artist. The dull hammer blows resounded through the centuries like a wood pecker’s serenade and they are still heard in the same key, in the same unerring tempo in the low huts in the hills. But the artisan has been always a poor man, for, his traditional way of working is slow and primitive. Thus untouched by change Kandy has come down the years with its customs, manners, rituals of marriage, death and worship. It has its own laws still. Kandy’s traditional Perahera is one of its magnificent manifestations, a momentary transformation of the old, majestic city, a splendid rehearsal of its past glory, when its dead kings and courtiers rise from their ashes and start along the torch –lit streets keeping time with the throbbing drums. When the gorgeous pageantry is over they walk back in to the night and melt into the shadows of time.. The farmers walk with their buffaloes into the fields, the craftsmen in to the low huts, the women into the hallowed routine of their daily lives. The ways and manners of the people of this city in the hills and districts differ from those of the Sinhalese in the low country. The feudal system dominated the hill

country for centuries. Every king and every chief was a feudal lord and the vast lands of his inheritance were worked and looked after by numerous vassals. They cultivated the lands and fields, harvested them and laid the fruit and the grain at the door of the masters. The caste system had much to do in the social order in the hill country. At every ceremony each caste performed its traditional duty. This added to the magnificence to the master and to the color and the splendor of the ceremony. Influence of ICT to economy By Uvindu Chandrasiri Grade 11E Since the day the universe was created human needs have been changing. Today the evolution is on a steady path. Improvements in communication has been a common need of the man during the last decade.As a result, the information communiction technology (ICT) has influenced economy of SriLanka. Today in our country transactions of money in banks are easily done due to inflence of ICT.This method is known as e-banking.Through ATM networks, we can easily do the transactons. Credit cards too play a prominent part of economy. ICT has influenced the business world greatly. Businessman uses internet for advertising and selling their products.This method is very effective than the methods used earler.Sri lanka should use ICT furthet to develop its economy. Mobile Phone By Uvindu Chandrasiri Grade 10 A mobile phone is a wireless phone which transmits and receives signals via communication satellites from towers. It is a bit expensive thing. But it serves the majority. Especially the entrepreneurs. It is portable.

52

That is why it is called a mobile phone. It has many functions. The mobile phone not only help in voice communication but also help to send and receive text messages. That is called SMS (Short Message Service). And also it has CLI features (Caller Line Identification) which helps to identify the caller and record the call with time and date. In addition, some mobile phones have the ability to take still photographs, video coverage, different tones for different callers, access to radio, television and internet. According to the modern world these are developing day by day. But any way these phones become expensive and essential thing. Tourist Attractions of Sri Lanka By Shanaka D. Warnakulasooriya Grade 11 Sri Lanka which is called “the pearl in the Indian Ocean”is a very popular tourist paradise in the world. It is a country with a proud History that goes back more than 2500 years. As Sri Lankans we have that pride and consider us lucky to live in a place like this. Not only the historical background and historical sites, it’s a lovely place with remarkable geographical locations with panoramic sights. Tourists come to Sri Lanka for holidays and sightseeing. This tourist attraction in our country includes; ancient ruins, waterfalls, world heritage forests, botanical gardens and Sandy beaches. The ruins represent our great and proud History which shows the different periods of past kings. Tourists who are interested in History, sculpture, paintings and other arts visit them. There are also colorful religious festivals in our country. The “Kandy Perahara” is one of the most attractive events with traditional Kandyan dancers, drum beaters especially elephants, that fascinate the tourists.

National Parks and Forests also pay a key role in this industry. Yala, Wipattu, Wasgamuwa, Bird Sanctuary and the World Heritage site the Sinharaja Rain Forest; are some of these natural parks. Tourists who are interested on wild life, nature, bird watching visit these unique environments. Especially, animal lovers never forget to visit these parks. Spectacular sandy beaches around country are also a blessing to our motherland. Tourists who like swimming, sun bathing go to these sandy beaches. Coral gardens, a massive coral reef in Hikkaduwa, is another major attraction. There is also a world popular palace which shows the architectural skills of our ancient ancestors. It’s the Rock Fortress “Sigiriya”, that is famous for the Sigiriya paintings. All these beautiful festivals and places are the main parts of this industry. Tourism brings a lot of foreign exchange to our country. Also it provides thousands of jobs to our people. Therefore, it’s the duty of the government to develop and provide infrastructural facilities to strengthen this industry. More luxurious hotels should be built to increase the demand and the private Sector should be encouraged to play a major role as well. We! As real Sri Lankans, should try to make use of the beauty of the country and festivals, to develop the industry of tourism. Finally I would like to say “SRI LANKA A LAND LIKE NO OTHER!” and it’s a UNIQUE country!!!! Stars – Life and Death By Thilina Rajapakshe Grade 11E Stars begin as clouds of dust and gas so far off in space that we would need 100,000 years to reach them. Gravity gathers gas and dust together and the clouds

grow denser squeezed together by gravity. Eventually these clouds turn into spheres of compressed gas with internal temperatures of an incredible few million degrees Celsius. At this point nuclear fusion occurs. During this stage hydrogen fuses together to form helium and large amounts of energy is given out as electromagnetic radiation. A star is born. A star like our sun has enough hydrogen to fuel it for billions of years. Once a star exhausts its core hydrogen it becomes larger, redder and more luminous. The star is now a red giant. After a medium star like our sun exhausts its core hydrogen there is no longer any force to support the core against the crushing force of gravity so the core begins to contract. Hydrogen burning continues in a shell outside the core and the outer layers puff up engulfing nearby planets. This larger star is called a red giant. Meanwhile the core continues shrinking until it reaches a density high enough to fuse helium into carbon. When the helium in the core too is exhausted the star would evolve into a red supergiant. Eventually a red supergiant would lose all its mass in the outer envelope and leave behind only a hot core of carbon. The Carbon core would cool gradually and become a white dwarf, a dense, dim remnant of a once bright star. When a much bigger star, about ten times as massive as the sun, exhausts its helium in the core, the nuclear burning cycle still continues. The carbon core contracts further and reaches temperatures high enough to burn carbon into oxygen, neon, silicon, sulphur and finally to iron. Iron, being the most stable of nuclear matter, cannot be fused to make another element. Without any heat to counteract gravity, the iron core collapses until it reaches nuclear densities. This high density core resists further contraction and in falling matter bounces off the

53

core producing a supernova explosion. These supernova explosions eject carbon, oxygen, silicon and other elements into interstellar space. Without supernova, the fiery deaths of massive stars, there would be no carbon, oxygen and other elements that make life possible. The fate of the core depends upon the mass of the original star. If the mass of the original star was around ten times the mass of the sun, the core will become a neutron star. If the original star was much bigger then the resultant core would be so dense and its gravity so high that nothing, not even light can escape it. Such invisible remnants of huge stars are called black holes. CANINE EPILEPSY By Indike Perera Grade 11E Abnormal electronic activity in brain that triggers uncoordinated and senseless messages to the body causing involuntary contractions of muscles is epilepsy. When epileptic symptoms occur on canine breeds it is canine epilepsy. Canine epilepsy is broadly divided as idiopathic epilepsy (primary epilepsy) and symptomatic epilepsy (secondary epilepsy). In idiopathic epilepsy, no external symptoms or brain damages other than the epileptic symptoms can be seen. Idiopathic epilepsy is mostly hereditary. First seizures of idiopathic epilepsy usually occur within the first five years of the dog’s life. In Symptomatic epilepsy, external symptoms and brain damages other than epileptic symptoms can be seen and a specific cause for the seizures can be found. Idiopathic epilepsy is common among Beagles, Belgian Nervures, Keeshonds, Dachshunds, British Alsatians, Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers and Collies but symptomatic epilepsy is common for all breeds. Epileptic seizures can be divided broadly into two categories as

Grand mal (Tonic-Clonic) and Petite mal (partial or focal) seizures. Grand mal seizures affect the whole body of the canine. It is the most serious type of seizure. The symptoms of a Grand mal seizure can be divided into five phases or specific steps. The first phase is the pre-ictus. A very slight change of the behavioral pattern of the dog takes place and can be seen only if observed carefully. This phase starts about 30 minutes before the actual seizure. The next phase is the Aura. It gives a warning of the oncoming seizure. Baseless fear, salivating, vocalizing, shaking of ears, unorganized breathing and unfocused eyes are the basic symptoms of the aura. The actual seizure starts with the Tonic phase. The dog falls down to the ground and vocalizations increase. The body gets rigid and the head is turned upwards. Next the seizure moves to the clonic phase. In this phase, the muscles of the dog start to move rhythmically. Head and limbs jerk to a rhythm during this phase. Vocalizing lessens and salivating increases. This phase may end suddenly by the dog falling unconscious. The consciousness is regained within few minutes. The clonic phase ends the actual seizure. The last phase of the seizure is the post-ictus. This phase may last from 2 hours to 48 hours. The dog may get temporarily arrogant or blind. It may not answer your calls and it may get senselessly scared. Taking food senselessly also is a common symptom of the post ictus. During the post ictus, even a small excitement can trigger a seizure so the dog must be looked after with care. Partial seizures are affected to a certain part of the body only. They can be divided into two categories as simple focal seizures and complex focal (psychomotor) seizures. In simple focal seizures the consciousness is not altered. Only a specific organ is affected by the seizure. Usually a limb or a part of the face is affected. The seizure

can gradually spread to a Grand mal seizure but such instances are very rare. The dog usually gets very alert after a simple focal seizure. In psychomotor seizures the consciousness is slightly altered and may shiver slightly and even salivate slightly. Psychomotor seizures affect only a part of the brain and the other parts of the brain are working in the normal order while the seizure is taking place. This increases the risk of a possible brain damage. Common symptoms of psychomotor seizures are trying to catch imaginary flies, bumping senselessly, trying to climb walls and trees and repeating senseless activities for a few minutes. Canine epilepsy cannot be prevented easily, but can be controlled by regular medical treatment. Therefore it is the duty of the owner to give proper medical treatment and care for the pet if it shows any epileptic symptoms. Most of the hazards of seizures can be prevented by taking simple safety measures. References: http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/ Protect our environment By Thilina Rajapakshe Grade 11E The cascading waterfalls, the roaring rivers, the calm lakes, the enchanting forests, the lofty mountains, the green valleys and the wild savannas all belong to the environment. Everything around us is part of the environment. We take every single thing we want in our life from the environment. From the air we breathe to the clothes we wear, everything is from the environment. Without the environment, human beings cannot survive for human beings themselves are a part of the environment. Unfortunately, some people deliberately cause harm to the environment to sate their greedy desires. These traitors cut down

54

majestic trees and sell them as timber. It is as if these criminals didn’t know that all our lives depend on these givers of oxygen. Others pump chemical waste into lakes and other waterways destroying many aquatic creatures and polluting precious water. This polluted water can spread diseases among humans too. The smoke from factories and automobiles pollutes the air and this too can lead to some diseases. It also increases the threat of global warming which in turn leads to the disturbance of Mother Nature’s equilibrium. Steps must be taken to prevent the destruction of the environment or humans themselves will be destroyed. Rules must be laid down and enforced in order to prevent the destruction of forests. Proper methods for the disposal of chemical waste must be established to protect the waterways without which life, both human and animal, is impossible. New technology like the fuel cell technology should be used to power the automobiles instead of

the internal combustion engine. The usage of environmental-friendly sources of energy like solar and wind power should be encouraged in order to keep the atmosphere clean and healthy. Unless these measures are taken the environment would be completely destroyed and all life obliterated in Earth. Let us protect the environment as best as we can both individually and together as a society for our very existence depends on the environment. Man and the Nature By Anuradha B. Marapana Grade 12C Man is part of the nature and for a long time he has lived with it. But now by choosing a different pathway of life, he alone has destroyed the nature which gave the birth to all of us. Unlike our ancestors we have forgotten our beginning. People destroy forests, and other natural habitats of other species only for selfish motives. But we have never thought that lives of other species have fallen into

great danger because of our activities. Global warming and environmental pollution are the main problems which are caused by human activities. Global Warming has resulted in the increase of sea level and consequently, many islands and coastal areas have already gone under water. Environmental pollution also caused numerous problems to humans and other living beings as well. Because of these reasons, one day our beautiful earth will be a desert where no living being can exist. So, what is the use of being the most intelligent living being on the earth, if we do not understand the gravity of our own activities. There will be no human race without other beings. We need all of them, and they too have a right to live on the earth. So, first of all, we should understand that the human race will face extinction from this world before any other living being.

55

DC Chapter:

TX Chapter: ON Chapter

DAANA Chapter News

First get-together of the DC Chapter took place on 03/14/2009 at Sarith Mahana-ma’s residence in Ellicott City, Maryland. More than 16 Rajans from DC, Maryland and Virginia were present with their fami-lies and Ambassador Mr Tissa Wijeratna, the Deputy Chief of the Sri Lankan mission in USA and also a former teacher graced the occasion. The second get-together was held on 08/08/2009 at Bandula Ra-nasinghe's residence.

First Texas Chapter get-together was held at San-ka Tennakoon’s residence on 04/26/2009 in Hou-ston. Though they are not the best Cricketers Ra-jans had, they became semi-finalists after a last ball nail biter in a six-a-side Cricket tournament organized by the Houston Sri Lankans on Memorial Day! Texans have been actively raising the Rajan spirit with quite a few activities. They sponsored the June Dhamma Talk at Houston Buddhist VIhara and volunteered in some community activites. Among them were a “Sramadaana” at Willies Meditation Center in North Houston and a Blood Drive at Houston Buddhist Vihara. Prasad Samara-jiva hosted the second get-together of Texas Ra-jans.

Organizing the DAANA Ontario Chapter was the handy work of Senaka Jayawickrama. The first get-together was held at his residence on 4th July, 2009. Second was at Ashoka Attigal-la’s residence in Toronto on 3rd October, 2009. They met again for a noble cause; offering alms at the Westend Buddhist Temple in Missis-sauga, Ontario, in memory of the past teach-ers of Dharmaraja and the Rajans in Armed Forces who lost their lives in battle.

56

Honorary Members Ambassador Mr. Tissa Wijeratne (a former teacher at DRCK) Mrs. Indumati Karunaratne (a former teacher at DRCK) Members

Abayakoon Chanaka V 1985 Herath, Chinthana 1984 Polpitiya, Ashoka 1988 Abeykoon, A. M. Milinda 1992 Herath, Nuwan 2000 Rajaguru, Chanaka 1995 Abeyratne, Hemantha 1978 Herath, Ranil 1992 Rajakaruna, Harshana 1985 Abeytunge, Ruchindra 1980 Herath, Susantha 1973 Rajapaksa,indrajith 1995 Amarasinghe, David 1961 Herath, Venura 1999 Rajapakse, Chamith 1991 Amarathunge, Sanjaya, B. 1991 Hettiarachchi, Dharmadasa 1978 Rajapakshe Madhura 1999 Athauda Sisira K 1982 Jayakody, Hiran 1981 Ranasinghe Bandula 1970 Attygalle Gamini Asoka 1979 Jayarathna, Naleen 2000 Ranasinghe, Rajiv 2000 Balasuriya, Sanjeewa 1985 Jayasinghe, Dave Shivanka 1995 Ranatunga, Lasitha 1995 Bandara, Hemantha 1980 Jayasinghe, Gayan 2004 Ranatunga, Udayana 2000 Bandara, Nishantha 1985 Jayasinghe,Sheranga,A 1994 Randeniya, Duminda 1994 Bandara,Prasanna.S 1977 Jayawardane, Chandika 1996 Rasingolla, Mahesh 1980 Bandaranayake, Aruna S. 1991 Jayawardena, Sethsiri 1993 Rathninde, Anuruddha 1989 Bandaranayake, BJ 1996 Jayaweera, Thilanka 2003 Ratnayake Palitha 1982 Banneyake, Ranil 1999 Jayawickrama, Dimuthu 1982 Sahabandu Nishan 2004 Basnayake Romesh G. 1983 Jayawickrema Senaka S 1988 Samarajiva, Prasad 1985 Basnayake, Chan B. 1967 Kahatapitiya Ranjith 1952 Samaraweera, Asanka 1998 Basnayake, Pushpa 1976 Kalupahana, Nishan, S 1993 Samaraweera, Kosala 1996 Basnayake,Sanjaya 1982 kanankedelpalage Prasanga 2000 Silva, HD 1997 Beminiwattha, Rakitha, S 2000 Kandanarachchi, Pramod 1979 Siriwardana, Rajitha, D 2000 Chanakya, Dantha 1985 Karunaratne Dinuka Kushal 2002 Siriwardena, Kaushalya 1994 Chandrarathna Bandara 1980 Karunaratne Shanaka 2005 Sumathipala, Kuma 1978 Dahanayake, Manthinda 1998 Karunaratne, Shanta 1978 Sunilal Pathum M 2004 Dasanayake Isuru S. 2000 Karunatilake, Chulani 1976 Tennakoon, Jagath 1984 Diyabalanage, Thushara 1985 Kuruppu, Sandun Shivantha 2002 Tennakoon, Sanka, B 1991 Dorabawila, Kamal 1994 Lansakaranayake, Sanjaya, L 1995 Thilakarathna Malinda S. 1999 Ediriweera Krishanth 1989 Lenagala, Roshan 1995 Uyanwatte Geeth 1992 Eheliyagoda Amoga 2002 Lewke Bandara, Suren 1979 Walgampaya, C.K. 1995 Ellepola Anil M.B. 1975 Liyanapathiranage Ananda 1969 Wanigasundara, Samappriya 1971 Ellepola Sajith H 1996 Mahanama, Sarith 1985 Wckremasinghe, K. H. 1951 Gajaweera Jeewan 1989 Mailewa Kavinda 1983 Weebadde, Prabode 1987 Gamaethige, Tharanga, S 1996 Marapane, Suresh 1976 Weerasekera, Jihan B 2004 Gamage Anuradha Indika 1995 Mendis Shanti U 1964 Weerasinghe Indika Deepal 2000 Gamage, Roshan D. 1995 Menikarachchi Lochana C. 1999 Weerasinghe, Nalaka.P 1978 Gamage, Thoshitha, T 2000 Millawabandara , Nalaka 1991 Weerasinghe, Pubudhu 1976 Gamagedara, Sanjeewa 2000 Nagahawatte Panduka 1996 Wickramasinghe, Prabath 1988 Geewandara, Ama S 2001 Panapitiya Nimanka P 2000 Wijenayaka, Chatura 1999 Gunasekara, Lasantha 1986 Perera Kalika Kushan 1979 Wijerathna, Sanath R. 1990 Gunasekera, Mahinda 1980 Perera Lalith 1989 Wijeratne, WMAB 1997 Gunasinnhe,Hasitha 2000 Perera Sanjaya Dulip K 2000 Wijesekera, Asitha 1974 Guruge, Ananda 1946 Perera, Chaminda, Kithsiri 1992 Wijesinghe Priyanga 1995 Hapuarachchi, Suminda 1991 Perera, Wajirasiri 1995 Wijewardana, Viskam 1990 Herath, Chinthaka 1984

Pethiyagoda Jayantha 1987

*Graduating year from Dharmaraja is shown next to the member name.

DAANA Members

57

DAANA recognizes the following members for their contributions during the past year Greater than $200 Bandula Ranasinghe $100-$199 Dimuthu Jayawickrama Sanka Tennakoon Sarith Mahanama Shanta Karunaratne Dharmadasa Hettiarachchi Hemantha Abeyratne Lasitha Lansakaranayake Less than $100 Ashoka Polpitiya Nishantha Bandara Geeth Uyanwatte Thushara Diyabalanage Sajith Ellepola Anil Ellepola Jeewan Gajaweera David Amarasignhe Ranil Banneyake Kosala Samaraweera Mahen Gunasekera Sanjaya Amarathunge

DAANA Member Contributors

58

Student Name Duration Name of the Scholarship Sponsor(s)

1 Chinthaka Thilina Bowatte

(Feb 2009- Jul 2010) 18 months

Mr. Mahinda Kapilaratne Scholarship

Dimuthu Jayawickrama, Ashoka Polpitiya, Ni-shantha Bandara, Geeth Uyanwatte, Sarith Ma-hanama, Sanka Tennakoon, Thushara Diyaba-lanage

2 Gamini Keerthi Bandara Dissanayake

(2010) 10 months

Professor WS Karunaratne Memorial Scholarship I

Mrs. Indumathi Karunaratne (former teacher)

3 Dammika Jayanath Senanayaka

(2010) 10 months

Professor WS Karunaratne Memorial Scholarship II

Mr. Shanta Karunaratne

4 Dhanuka Nuwan Gunarathne

(2010) 10 months

Professor Sanath Rana-tunga Memorial Scholar-ship

Mr. Lasitha Ranatunga

5 Gihan Mayadunne (2010) 10 months

MB Weerasekara Scholar-ship

DAANA Old Scouts

6 Shamitha Dilushan Chandrasena

(2010) 10 months

Mrs. Nalini Ekanayake Scholarship

DAANA TX Chapter

7 Tharindu Piyamantha Premarathne

(2010) 10 months

Mrs. Indra Warakagoda Scholarship

Board of Directors '09

8 Kasun Sanjaya Thalgaskotuwa

(2010) 10 months

SLSA (Sri Lankan Students of U of Houston)

9 Pathum Sachintha Ranatunga

(2010) 10 months

SLAAH (Sri Lankan Assoc. of Houston)

10 Amila Bandara Wijerathne

(Y2010) 10 months

Mr. Suresh Hiran De Silva

11 Asela Bandara Wewegedera

(2010) 10 months

SP Senaratne Memorial Scholarship

Mr. Mahen Gunasekera

12 Buddhika Madusanka Sampath Bandara

(2010) 10 months

Mr. Buddhika Bandaranayake

13 Niroshan Dhanushka Senavirathne

(2010) 10 months

DAANA Scholarship Mr. Sandun S. Kuruppu

14 Lakmal Sandun Ban-dara Herath

(2010)

10 months

Mr/s. Asanka and Suren Lewke Bandara

DAANA Scholarship Recipients

59

OPERATING STATEMENT

All amounts are stated in US$ equivalent

Bank of America (Washington DC, USA) Amounts in US $

Revenues

Contributions - Member 1,920.53

Contributions - Non-member 1,122.30

Pledges - Member 720.00

Pledges - Non-member 180.00

Total Revenue 3,942.83

Expenses

DAANA MD Registration (170.00)

DAANA Non-Profit (501C3) Registration (328.00)

Google Checkout Commission (8.05)

Donation - DRCK Student Scholarship (174.40)

Donation - Astro Olympiad Student Travel (700.00)

Donation - DRCK Science Section Projector (465.04)

Donation - Wall Paper Gift Vouchers (160.00)

Total Expenses (2,005.49)

Net Operating Income 1,937.34

Interest Income 0.04

Foreign Exchange Gain / (Loss) (3.80)

(Bank Charges) -

Withholding Taxes on Bank Balances -

Net Bank Income/(Loss) (3.76)

Increase in Net Assets 1,933.58

Net Assets at Beginning of Year -

Net Assets at End of Year 1,933.58

Signed K Dorabawila Signed S Ellepola

Kamal Dorabawila Sajith Ellepola

Treasurer - DAANA Asst. Treasurer – DAANA

Date: January 1, 2010

DAANA Financial Statement

60

BALANCE SHEET

Amounts in US $

as of December 31,2009 2009 2008

Assets Current Assets

Cash/Deposits - Dollar 921.78 -

Cash/Deposits - Rupee 111.80 -

Pledges Receivable 900.00 -

Long Term Assets - -

Total Assets 1,933.58 - Liabilities and Net Assets

Liabilities - Current

Accounts Payable - - Donations Pledged - DAANA Scholarship pro-gram 1,190.25 -

Total Liabilities 1,190.25 -

DRCK Cricket Ground Fund 55.00 -

Scholarship Fund 291.80 -

General Fund 396.53 -

Net Assets 743.33 -

Total Liabilities and Net Assets 1,933.58 -

CASHFLOW STATEMENT Amounts in US $

for the Year ended December 31, 2009 2009 Beginning Cash Balance -

Cashflow from Operations Net Operating Income

Adjustments for Non-cash Items: 1,937.34

Accounts Payable

Accounts Receivable -

Net Cashflow from Operations (900.00)

1,037.34

Net Bank Income (Loss) (3.76)

Ending Cash Balance 1,033.58 Signed K Dorabawila Signed S Ellepola

Kamal Dorabawila Sajith Ellepola

Treasurer - DAANA Asst. Treasurer - DAANA

Date: January 1, 2010

61

DAANA Sponsors

62

63